


Epistasis of decoherence

by luf5, The guy with DNA in his profile picture (RFLP)



Series: Wave function collapse [2]
Category: Steins;Gate
Genre: Alternative S;G Attractor field, Comedy, Family Drama, Gen, Okabe and Kurisu are parents, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-01-05 21:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18374012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luf5/pseuds/luf5, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RFLP/pseuds/The%20guy%20with%20DNA%20in%20his%20profile%20picture
Summary: At first sight, the Okabes look like a typical family with a father, a mother, an older son and a younger daughter. However, Okabe Keitarou knows that isn’t the case: worldlines, convergences, amnesias and identity changes are some of the thinfs they have to deal with.After finding an abandoned time machine, Keitarou decides to figure out on his own his father’s best kept secret: whatever it was happened in the year 2012.Will he be ready to spy on his parents?Will Okabe Rintarou and Makise Kurisu understand their future family’s problems?





	1. The Schrödinger Squad

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Epistasis de la decoherencia](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18378251) by [El tipo con el ADN en su foto de perfil (RFLP)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RFLP/pseuds/El%20tipo%20con%20el%20ADN%20en%20su%20foto%20de%20perfil). 
  * Inspired by [Epistasis de la decoherencia (Vieja version)](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/515477) by RFLP. 



>   
>    
> 
> 
> This work is a translation made by Luf5. The original version is in Spanish (Original name: Epistasis de la decoherencia). It is really a great job and I am very grateful to her. (Really, I thank you with all my heart Luf5!).
> 
> Introduction:
> 
> Hello, readers.
> 
> This is a story that I have been writing since last year and whose first version I published earlier in fanfiction. I am currently editing and republishing it, with the intention of also translating it into English. The translation is in charge of the user Luf5.
> 
> The story is situated two years after the end of the first visual novel or anime Steins;Gate. It also contains references to characters from Steins;Gate 0 and other spinoff works.
> 
> The fanfic already has 13 chapters (several details of the plot have been altered from the previous publication), plus others in writing process.  
>  
> 
> ***IMPORTANT NOTE:***  
> The plot of this fanfic is something that I constantly plan and reformulate. I declare my intention to write the totality of my ideas, or at least come to an end, even if it is not the one I have chosen at the moment (because I have one in mind).  
> However, the plot is so long and the process of writing (and later translation) is arduous. It may take years to be realized.  
> I plan to do what I can to coordinate my writing times with my other responsibilities, but I make it clear that while finishing the fanfic is something I would like and desire, it is not my priority in life.***
> 
> **WARNINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE READING THIS FANFIC**
> 
> *This fic may contain OoC and deformation of canonical interpretations about the mechanics of worldlines and attractor fields.  
> *This fic uses scientific concepts not validated yet.  
> *This fic touches on socially sensitive topics.  
> *Actual historical events may be altered.  
> *Real brand names are misshapen for rights reasons.  
> *Original characters are NOT intended to be realistic, nor strictly serious writing.  
> *This fic uses stereotypes of the manga / anime genre.  
> *In this line of events, the OVA "Egoistic Poriomania" and the movie "Load Region of Déjà Vu" never happened.  
> *This story has nothing to do with the canonical continuation of the characters shown in Robotic;Notes, Robotic:Notes DaSH or any other work from the Science Adventure series.  
> *This fanfic can be catalogued as an "alternative future of the Steins;Gate made by a fan for other fans".  
> *Finally, although there is OkaKuri, this is not a fanfic focused on romance. If you just want to read a romantic story, this may not be your fic.
> 
> Without further ado, I declare that I wrote this to entertain you and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
> 
> The Author.

  ** _Disclaimer: Steins; Gate and its characters are property of 5pb / Nitroplus._ **

  

* * *

**_EPISTASIS OF DECOHERENCE_ **

**Chapter One**

**The Schrödinger Squad**

_Saturday, September 27, 2036_

The young man put on a long black trench coat, and looking at his own reflection on the metal surface, he fixed his reddish-brown hair.

He took three steps back and spent some time taking a better look at the big artifact he had worked on. He thought that since the time machine was completely functional, it deserved some kind of name. Following tradition, it had to have the previous future gadget’s consecutive number. Despite his intentions of snatching it away from its true creators, he didn’t want to abandon that custom. So, he’d name it “K204 (name subject to change),” until he thought of something better.

The time machine’s similarities with an old satellite, added to the cyberpunk appearance of the coat he chose which made the young man feel like the main character of an old Sci-Fi series. As if he were to start a Space Opera style adventure with a historical fiction tinge; or it would perhaps be more appropriate to expect a kind of thriller, with action, drama, comedy and last but not least, romance. That’d be good for him.

The only thing missing was for him to start narrating. Then, taking inspiration from a show he remembered having seen as a child, he began to recite the great introduction in his mind:

“ _Time: The true final frontier.”_

Overcoming limits that were believed to be impassable, does it matter if man reaches Mars? Reaching space was only a matter of time and defeating the latter would be his goal.

“ _Our mission: To explore the past to fix the web of temporal grids, traveling to places where no man has gone before.”_

He who controls time can control everything: past, present and future are all one thing. Everything could be changed, nothing was inalterable. The current circulating reality, which his parents named “Steins;Gate” could be fixed. He’d use this invention for that.

“ _That’s it. Didn't you say I was a fool for wishing to travel in time?”_

He told the figure that barged into his mind.

“ _Perhaps you wanted to try it and failed, but I have shown that I am better. I finished your invention and I’ll take it without your permission. I’ll go fix what you don’t dare to. ‘Nobody should interfere with the Steins;Gate?’, ‘We must accept reality as it is?’, don’t make me laugh.”_

He felt the sudden desire to imitate that evil laugh he heard so many times in his childhood. He crossed his arms in front of him and took a big breath.

“Fuahahahahaha!” His voice resounded all across the room.

Yes, the imitation was really good; he could even receive an award for it. But he soon heard some steps walking across the enclosure and he went on the alert.

Was he also there? Had he caught him? The young man had secretly worked all the time, but he never moved the apparatus from the place they abandoned it. Perhaps he had discovered his work. Perhaps he’d try to stop him.

The young man closed his fists. He wouldn’t allow them to stop him. He’d turn around and face him if necessary: It didn’t matter what he said. He’d go to the past, fix everything, he didn’t care about anything else, he.…

“What’s so funny Keitarou?”

A young woman with two long braids wearing dark green sports clothes was at his side.

“Hashida-san!” Keitarou exclaimed, feeling a big relief. “I’m glad it’s you.”

“Of course, it’s me. Were you waiting for someone else?” She replied, tilting her head. “Tell me, what were you thinking before? You seemed amused and I want to laugh too.”

“Nothing special. Did you bring your things?”

Perhaps that was an unnecessary question since the girl carried a big military style backpack on her back. Rather than responding, she stared at him. She noticed that her friend wanted to divert her curiosity.

“If you don’t want to tell me what you were thinking I’m just going to try to guess it.” And putting her hand on her chin, she began to think about it. “Yeah, I got it! It must’ve been that.”

Keitarou looked at her, intrigued. His dear childhood friend loved playing those kinds of games. He wondered if this time she had successfully figured his thoughts out.

Hashida’s look seemed serious.

“I know you were thinking of some perverted stuff and that’s why you don’t want to tell me!” She said, pointing at Keitarou with an accusing finger.

A brief silence followed the accusation while she lowered her finger and gave him a mischievous look.

“In fact, I’m sure it was something extremely perverse by the way you were laughing, similar to a netorare story or perhaps something with tentacles, isn’t it?”

“Of course not, Hashida-san!” Keitarou finally responded. “Why do you always have to assume those things?”

“Eh? That wasn’t it? Well, it looks like I got it wrong again, don’t get so offended.” She added, keeping her smile and rubbing her head. “But due to your reaction when I got here, I’d swear you were thinking about someone. I wonder who that could be...”

After adding that comment, and while she thought about the person in her friend’s mind, Hashida occupied herself with walking around the imponent apparatus.

Keitarou couldn’t take his eyes off the attractive athletic figure walking around the room. He knew that, behind that feminine appearance, hidden, was a great fighter who could defeat a thousand men in a fight. However, despite considering herself a “soldier in training,” Hashida kept her happy personality and treated everyone around her with kindness.

Everyone except Keitarou, of course. She loved to poke fun at him every chance she got, but does that really matter? She was his best friend and was there to accompany him as his loyal right-hand woman.

“The only person I can think about now is Hashida Suzuha.”

He said it quietly; he thought she wouldn’t hear him due to the distance between them. But after saying it, the aforementioned girl turned towards and looked at him.

“Wait! Don’t think I do it in a perverted way!” He exclaimed nervously. “What I meant was that I, I, Hashida-san…”

“I understand why you’re so happy Keitarou.”, she interrupted. “It looks phenomenal now that it’s finished. It amazes me that our parents designed this, it is an incredible invention.”

The time machine was Keitarou’s parents’ idea, with the collaboration of Suzuha’s dad. Those three united brilliant minds had accomplished the planning of such a magnificent device that could travel to both past and present without using big quantities of fuel in the process.

However, before the apparatus was finished and the last technical details solved, they abandoned the project, and the machine was left in a rented shed next to other faulty or incomplete devices. Their children discovered its existence by mere luck.

Keitarou decided to seize the prototype, and without letting the former owners know, he dedicated himself to complete the apparatus and make it work. After seven months of work, he finally achieved his objective. The result gave him the biggest satisfaction he had ever felt in his life.

“Listen Hashida-san,” he called his friend’s attention, “we will soon travel to the past in this machine. I thank you for responding to my request of help for the mission I’ve decided to take on. As a reward I, Okabe Keitarou, promise to you that on your nineteenth birthday, after completing our work in the year 2012, will take you to the time in history that you wish to visit.”

“Really? You can take me anywhere I want?” Suzuha happily asked.

“That’s right.”, he confirmed, “To the Gardens of Babylon, the Mayan Pyramids, or even to the first Kinkaku-ji. Neither one of those places will be a big challenge, because this machine is calibrated to travel both in time and space. That was my best personal improvement from the original version, which could only move in one of the four dimensions.”

He made a brief pause to fix the collar of his coat and continued with his speech with a confident demeanor.

“From now on, our team will be called ‘The Schrödinger Squad’. With that name we will make history as the first time-travelers in the world. I know you like being the leader Hashida-san, but I think I must be the one to guide this expedition.”

“I’ll let you do it, but this time only.” she responded, smiling still.

Keitarou’s excitement kept increasing with each word he said and after hearing his friend’s response, it wouldn’t stop now. While going up the machine’s steps he began to proclaim:

“We will do it. The Schrödinger Squad will travel to the past and will discover all the secrets of history! The world won’t be able to hide anything from us!” he exclaimed, peaking with excitement. “With your strength and my mind, we will overcome all the obstacles, and nothing can stop us as long as we’re together. I promise you that you and I will experience a great adventure, Hashida Suzuha!”

He said those words honestly, trusting that she’d realized what his true feeling were. It wasn’t the first time that he expressed his intentions, yet he still expected that this time, she noticed them.

Instead, Suzuha began to endlessly laugh. Her loud laughs were so strong and so long that she had to hold her belly with a hand, while she dried the tears coming out her amber eyes with the other.

Okabe Keitarou felt humiliated. He went down the steps and his knees wobbled, making him almost fall to the ground. But he didn’t want to give up the small remains of his already hurt masculinity.

It didn’t matter how many times Suzuha destroyed him with her unexpected reactions, he wouldn’t give up.

“Am I only a joke to you, Hashida-san?” he asked firmly.

“That’s not it Keitarou, please don’t get mad.” she responded, while trying to stop laughing, “It’s just that you… you were…”

Without success, she began to laugh again, which bothered Keitarou.

“I what? Tell me what’s so funny already!” he demanded.

She managed to contain herself and got ready to talk, keeping her usual smile, but with a more serious tone in her voice.

“You see, first it’s the name you gave us, then that speech you gave, and lastly the coat you’re wearing.”

“What’s wrong with my coat?” he asked, “I think it looks good.”

“That thing? I don’t even believe people in 2012 wear that, although you always liked dressing weird.”

But Keitarou believed that there wasn’t anything wrong with his fashion sense. He trusted he had inherited the good fashion taste from his mother.

He crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow, he waited for her to explain her true thoughts.

“I suspected as soon as I heard you while I came in.” Suzuha confessed, “What you did before was, nothing more than, acting like uncle Okarin!”

Keitarou didn’t appreciate the comment and looked at her with a puzzled look, as if he didn’t understand what she was saying.

“And the funniest part was that you did it your own way, do you understand now, _future child_?”

“Yes, I was imitating him before, but only that silly laugh he’s got.” He refuted. “Plus, you very well know that I don’t look like that guy, so don’t compare me with him.”

“Come on, Keitarou, stop being so grumpy and admit it already, after all, he’s your father.” she reproached, “You shouldn’t be embarrassed, actually, I think it’s really cute that you try to look like him.”

Cute? Did she really use that word?

Suzuha may be a few months older, but he wasn’t a kid either to be treated as such. Plus, when it came to being compared to his father, Okabe Keitarou didn’t want to admit any similarities. Doing it was inconceivable.

“No, Hashida-san, you’re wrong.” he denied it, “Stop imagining that I want to be like that loser Hououin Kyouma.”

“Dad is not a loser.”

A voice was heard on the other side of the room and caught the attention of the youngsters, who turned towards the spot it came from.

“Good morning Shizuka-chan.” Suzuha greeted, “I didn’t see you there.”

“Good morning.” was her reply.

In a corner, next to her bag and with a big stuffed bunny as her luggage, there was Okabe Shizuka. She was barely a teenager with big light brown eyes and long black hair. It could be said that her childlike appearance gave her a certain charm; but, as her name denounced, her biggest feature was not talking much. It was rare when she would express herself through any means and if it wasn’t for the few times she made some comments when she wanted to intervene in what was happening around her, her presence would go unnoticed.

Keitarou looked at his younger sister with disgust. He knew that she hated to waste her words without a good reason, but even so, she chose to defend their father. He couldn’t understand her.

“Did you finish that Shizuka?”

She made an affirmative movement with her head and gave her brother the three cellphones that up until a moment ago, were in her possession. She had worked on them the whole previous time.

“What is that? They look really ancient, what do you need them for?” Suzuha asked.

“This will be the way we communicate when we arrive to the past, they’re that era’s models. I managed to make them work and I asked Shizuka to encode them so nobody can intercept us.”

The encoding of the teenager had to be infallible. After all, Okabe Shizuka was Hashida Itaru’s favorite disciple, who had trained her in the art of all programming codes developed since the 80’s. She was also an expert in information security and an experienced hacker at only fourteen years of age, being able to outsmart every security barrier with a monstrous easiness.

Even her dad liked to admit that she was a “lover of chaos, destruction, and most of all, jumping rabbits, IT genius girl.”

Suzuha felt uncomfortable. She didn’t like the idea of giving up her usual technology, but she understood that camouflage was a necessary feature for every active soldier, so that wasn’t the reason for her discomfort. Her main concern was the fact Shizuka would accompany them.

Keitarou insisted that Shizuka could be useful in the past, but the young woman with the braids couldn’t trust people capable of betraying others. Since Shizuka’s brother couldn’t complete the time machine without the help of the original blueprints, it was Shizuka who took them without permission from her teacher’s computer. A hacker hacked another hacker.

Even so, Suzuha decided to let it go and didn’t say anything about it.

Without having to wait on anyone else, the Schrödinger Squad was ready to depart.

They secured the luggage in a machine’s empty seat. It was originally designed to transport four people, but the squad only consisted of three.

“Can I pilot it?” Suzuha asked setting herself next to the control panel, “I have a feeling that I know how to do it.”

Her friend gave his approval. Despite the possible complications, he knew that the machine was safe. He had tested it with short trips, to both the past and the future, always trying not to arrive at dates that could cause problems. The worst part of the experiments was having to avoid running into himself or being gone for too long. Going and coming right away wasn’t recommended, because the intensive use could overheat the apparatus. So, he had to wait at least some hours in between tests. The trips never went over a few days of temporal displacement.

If unexpected risks were a possibility when trying to go 24 years back in time, the protocol was still the same for all the actions. The only thing needed was to input the date into the clock and the desired location into the coordinates map: the location had already been predetermined. If it had worked before, it would work now.

Shizuka was the only one that wasn’t aboard and instead was looking from the entrance without moving.

“Come on in already, don’t you want to get that old computer?” Keitarou insisted from the inside, “What was its name? N3Xt Computer?”

“IBN5100.” she responded.

“That one. You’ll have a better chance of finding it in the past than just standing there.”

Without speaking any more words, the last crew member set herself into her seat. The bunny was on her lap.

Hashida Suzuha input the date into the panel and pulled a lever. The door closed and the machinery started up. However, the trip wouldn’t be immediate, so they had to wait for a brief lapse to arrive at their destination. The silence became deeper as they went through the dimensions.

“Tell me again, why the year 2012 specifically?” Suzuha asked, trying to break the silence.

“The theoretical calculations indicate that year as the beginning of the superposition of worldlines. Plus, I have a clue about the date my parents could’ve worked together in what I’m looking for.”

“Are you sure that you’ll cure your amnesias with that? Because I don’t understand what one thing has to do with the other. I mean, you hadn’t been born yet.”

The question was difficult to answer. The amnesias that Keitarou suffered were so peculiar, that not even his mother, a great well-known neuroscientist and expert in the field of human memory, hadn’t found an effective solution to fight them. However, the young man knew that their cause wasn’t a physiological error that could be treated, but a secondary effect from the imperfections on the time physics.

“I’m sure.” he responded.

“I just hope we get back home before the afternoon. Mama promised to bake me a gigantic cake.”

“Don’t worry Hashida-san, my priority will be for you two to go back safely. Plus, if things went south and you were in danger, I…”

“If anything bad happens, I’ll protect you Keitarou, so don’t go crying.” Suzuha interrupted happily, “Remember that we have to go play airsoft together next week. I saw a Marucen M870 shotgun in Shinjuku that you could buy with your savings.”

Before her friend could begin to show a little interest on investing his money on airsoft markers and accompanying her to survival games organized by the Valkyrie Resistance, Suzuha groped her pocket looking for something.

“By the way, I brought this for you.” she handed him a package, “They were my dad’s. Mama was going to get rid of them, but I thought you’d like them. You know, they’ll go well with that weird coat.”

Keitarou felt very weird having an object that belonged to Hashida Itaru. He usually avoided running into him, who despite being his father’s best friend, accused him of irrational things, like paying too much attention to the 3D world, or belonging to a male generation that had lost the habit of playing the sacred eroge games. But he must admit that the fingerless black gloves had a style he liked.

While they talked, some strange white lights began to blink all around. Those shining lights were only a secondary effect from a Kerr black hole when traveling through time, but the scene was impressive to the sight. Even Shizuka, who usually seemed uninterested, put a lot of effort trying to catch the sparkles that crossed her hair.

As they got closer to their destination, the gravity’s force began to suddenly increase and the final phase felt like a long free fall, that they could only resist by holding onto their seats. When the shaking ended and the machine stopped moving, the first one to unbuckle his seatbelt was Keitarou, who then opened the door and went outside, followed by Suzuha.

They both went to a nearby railing.

“We did it Hashida-san!” he exclaimed looking around, “We truly did it!”

“But where are we now?”

It looked like they were on the rooftop of a 5 or 6 story building approximately. The view wasn’t very clear, and some skyscrapers towered above their heads. Despite being morning when they left their time, the sun was already descending.

“In Akihabara, I chose this place because it’s abandoned in the future.”

Looking down, they realized that the place was still in business. People came in and out the main entrance; some people walked on the streets and others directed their eyes towards the sign crowning the building’s façade.

Hashida Suzuha feared that the apparatus could stand out and get people’s attention. She turned around to confirm it, but behind her, she could only see Shizuka, next to the luggage that they brought for the expedition, which was now laying on the ground.

“It’s covered with invisibility layers from plasmonic technology with automatic activation when evacuated.” Keitarou clarified, “I believe that is this machine’s best characteristic.”

“But if the buttons are invisible, how are we going to open it back up?” his friend asked.

“It’s a little bothersome, but it takes me less than thirty minutes to find the digital fingertip authenticator.” he responded, admitting that the idea of invisibility was better in theory than in practice. “The important part is that they don’t discover us.”

“Hey you!”

A middle age man opened the door to the stairs.

“You aren’t allowed to come up here. Plus, we just had an earthquake. So, leave now before you get in trouble.”

Given the current situation, they didn’t have any other options other than to grab their things and go downstairs. The time machine would have to stay there, waiting for them to discover a better place to hide it.

“Excuse me sir, what is this building?” Suzuha asked going down the stairs.

“What!? What kind of question is that, child?” the man reclaimed, “Are you to tell me that you can’t tell this is the legendary Super Potatoes? Blasphemous people aren’t welcome! Get out of here now!”

When they were inside, they understood that it wasn’t just any store. It was packed with paraphernalia of ancient videogames, all of them discontinued from manufacturing. They were only able to recognize them through pictures they had seen online as children.

Despite the previous seismic movement, the visitors didn’t stop buying the entertainment contained in impractical cartridges of 8 and 16 bits, in CDs sensitive to being scratched, and in portable consoles that looked very heavy to hold for long hours. Meanwhile, on the fifth floor, others played with hard buttons and handles of wide machines, with monitors of tubes without any tactile function.

But despite the impracticality of the past, nobody would dare question the unbreakably sacred things that museum held.

The Schrödinger Squad felt like participating in that retro fever, and temporarily forgetting their mission, they decided to stay and play. Suzuha beat Keitarou several times in the fighting games, although he managed to get a win after multiple tries. Even Shizuka achieved a high score on one of the machines and got surrounded by an entourage that encouraged her, although she didn’t exchange a word with them.

It got dark soon and it was time to leave the store.

Already on the street, the three of them were ready to go their separate ways. The girls would stay together and search for a place where they could stay in the city; he would go farther away to execute his plan.

They gave the final indications of their tasks, exchanged goodbyes, and before the squad split up definitely, a voice interrupted Keitarou.

“Onii-chan.”

He felt how his sister was fixatedly looking at him when he turned around. He knew she had one last thing to tell him.

“Are you scared?” she asked.

“What do you mean, Shizuka? What should I be scared of?”

“To change history.”

He sighed. He understood well the worry that she wanted to express, although she didn’t even move one muscle on her face when saying it.

“You very well know the reason for this. It’ll be the best thing for all of us.” He put his arm on her head, giving her a soft blow. “So, don’t worry about me, silly little sister. Just do me a favor and do not reveal your identity and don’t get in any trouble.”

Shizuka didn’t say anything else.

They watched how their partner walked towards the train station, and then they began to go their own way towards the opposite direction from Chuo Dori, disappearing among the crowd.


	2. About Tsunderes and Mad Scientists

**Chapter Two  
**

**About Tsunderes and Mad Scientists**

_Sunday, September 30th, 2012_

After taking a flight from America to Japan, and then a bus from the Haneda airport to the Wako-shi station, Makise Kurisu felt tired from the trip. Fortunately for her, the longest transportation period had ended, and she was now walking through the streets towards her new residence, hoping to arrive as soon as possible.

The following working days would be demanding, considering that as soon as the next day she'd work in the Neurotechnological Research Laboratory, belonging to the RIKEM Brain Science Institute. She thought that she'd enjoy taking a day off, although that'd be asking for too much since she was barely starting; but hypothetically speaking, if she had it, she'd sure use it to see her friends. They hadn't been able to go to the airport to welcome her since they were busy, and she didn't want to trouble them.

She didn't want to bother the "mad scientist" prototype either, or at least that's what she told herself. She had asked the other lab members not to say anything about her visit because she believed that seeing him was inconvenient for both. Avoiding him premeditatedly was an effective strategy to save the explanations.

Two weeks prior, her _senpai_ Hiyaho Maho, and her supervisor, professor Alexis Leskinen, called her to talk about a private business. It seemed that an offer from Japan had been sent to Victor Chondria University: it consisted of exchanging human resources between both institutions, with a modest economic compensation for living expenses in the eastern country. The exchange's final objective was to publish under both groups to strengthen the international ties at a scientific level. They wanted her to accept the proposal.

Kurisu seemed interested in the offer, although she hesitated for a brief moment if this would be bad for the course of her current research in America. However, her superiors' intentions were very clear:

"You act very strange every time you come back from Japan, Kurisu. You seem distracted; at times, you are absent minded, and you even make several mistakes. That's not like you at all." her senpai had told her, "Perhaps it'd be convenient for you to stay over there for a while until you're able to clear your feelings, it wouldn't be good for our lab if you stay in that state of mind."

Leskinen, meanwhile, wanted Chris to finally take the big step and bring back the person she sighed about during her experiments, that "Linthahlo" guy which Maho had told him about. He had also asked her to visit some Japanese temples and take pictures of "Shaman girls" while she was there.

She didn't agree with their opinions and felt offended with their attitude. Okabe Rintarou was a peculiar character that she'd met two years ago and under her perspective, they were only friends.

However, after thinking about it for some days, she decided to accept the offer. The reason: it'd be fun working in a different setting, she could learn many new things. That'd help her get back to the path of excellence she always shot for. Plus, when she had free time, she'd go to Akihabara and visit the Future Gadget Lab; that didn't mean that she wanted to see that stupid Okabe particularly (that's what she constantly told herself) but rather, she wanted to chat with Mayuri and Urishubara-san.

Those was her only intentions.

She halted her walk at the main door of an apartment complex, which was mostly for temporary rentals. She would've liked going to her favorite hotel in Ochanomizu, but due to the length of time she was planning on staying, the commuting times, and her reduced budget, she had to look for a different option and the place wasn't so bad. It'd be three whole months she'd live there, beginning then.

Before going in and forgetting about it, she took out her cell phone: she wanted to let Mayuri know that she'd arrived well. She opened her instant messaging RINE app and began a new chat.

_«Makise Kurisu:_

_I'm already in Wako, I'll settle down at work and as soon as I have some free time, I'll stop by the lab. »_

_«Shiina Mayuri:_

_I'm so glad Kurisu-chan! Everyone in the lab will be happy to welcome you_ ＼ _(^o^)_ ／ _»_

_«Makise Kurisu:_

_I want to see you all soon too, but please, don't tell stupid Okabe I'm here. I'm not ready to deal with him just yet. »_

_«Shiina Mayuri:_

_Emmm, I'm really sorry Kurisu-chan (+_+). I'm afraid Okarin is very insistent when he is interested in something (_ ・ ___ ・ _;)»_

"What does she mean?" she asked herself, confused.

When she advanced a few steps, someone stopped her by pulling on her coat. When turning around, she saw a masculine figure, whose expression demanded explanations from her.

"Where do you think you're going, Christina?"

"Okabe!" Kurisu exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't respond to her astonishment; instead, he took his cell phone out and without making any calls, he put it next to his ear and began to recite some kind of monologue.

"It's me. It seems my assistant thought she could get the lab against me and go unnoticed, but she has failed. I'm going to check if the Organization has brainwashed her and she's been sent on a special mission to obtain..."

"Stop it with that nonsense!" she said, snatching the phone from his hand. Tell me, how did you know I was here?"

"Surprised, assistant?" he asked. "I admit that your incognito work had a great level, however, you must know that I have my own resources to get information from."

"Wait, have you been stalking me?"

Makise Kurisu raised her voice and a couple of pedestrians turned to see what was happening, commenting in a low voice among them. Okabe, meanwhile, took his phone back and grabbed her by the coat again, making them step away into a corner to talk in private.

Kurisu insisted more than once on knowing how he had found her residence. She firmly demanded knowing until he had no choice but to give her an explanation:

"I found Rukako and Mayuri secretly talking about when your plane would land and feeling bad that they couldn't go get you. It didn't take much of my persuasive techniques for both of them to confess that you were coming sneakily. I saw you at the station, but you left in a rush and I just managed to catch up with you now. That's how it all went down, happy now?"

"You followed me? Do you know that I can accuse you of harassment?"

He tried to play deaf to her threat.

"I wouldn't have to do it if you didn't run like someone was chasing you. I even thought you were in danger."

"I was, wasn't I? A perverted man in a lab coat followed me" Kurisu replied. "But for your information, I ran because I wanted to arrive fast to the building. I wanted to drop my bag, shower and order a…"

She suddenly stopped, why was she giving him explanations now? Her intention was to avoid him from the beginning.

"Wait. I don't have to tell you anything. You shouldn't be here, so leave now."

"Was wrong with you Christina?" he responded, insulted. "Some days ago, you told everyone you were coming, but me. Tell me what your problem is, and you won't have to worry about me following you ever again."

Okabe felt that Kurisu was acting more aggressive than normal and that bothered him. He was used to her not being very friendly towards him, but he at least expected her to be a little happier to find him there.

"There's no 'tina'! And I wasn't planning on seeing you just yet, that's it."

"Do you admit that you were hiding from me intentionally, member 004?"

"Well, if that's what you want to know, maybe I was in fact avoiding you..." she confessed, deviating her eyes away from him.

"Ha! I'm afraid that the brainwashing affected you more than what I thought, but who needs to see a miserable assistant after all?"

The mad scientist crossed his arms and turned his back on her. He didn't leave, but his body language announced that he was waiting for some kind of apology.

"Okabe, did you get mad?"

The question was unnecessary, since the answer was obvious. But more than angry, Okabe was offended for being ignored in such a way.

Kurisu could have let it go and left him there. She was already in front of the building, she only needed to go in to end the argument. But she couldn't leave the situation the way it was, or they would've probably stopped talking for a long while. Both were stubborn and prideful: the conflict would extend for weeks, if at least this time, she didn't try to fix it.

"Fine! I'll explain why I didn't tell you anything" she said. "You're in college and it's Sunday afternoon. I'm sure you have something to read before your next seminar or an assignment to finish this week. That's why I thought it wasn't necessary for you to know it, I was going to contact you when it was a good time. I was planning to go to the lab anyway."

"Nice try, but my schedule is top secret and not even the best agent could access it" Okabe answered, turning around. "Your job as a lab member is to think about the creation of future gadgets, not to speculate about my agenda."

"Don't you really have anything to do?"

He showed her a crooked grin.

"A genius with a 170 IQ like me doesn't worry about trivialities like those."

Okabe Rintarou was 20 years old and a junior in college. He probably did have assignments pending, but instead of focusing on school, the guy seemed more interested in whatever was happening with the lives of the lab members.

Had he done this trip all the way there because he wanted to see her? Kurisu didn't want to think about it. He had his ow life; she knew it well. He needed to take charge of his responsibilities, otherwise, he'd never mature and continue acting like a Chuunibyou for many more years.

"Okabe, enough, stop wasting your time here" she said with her hand on her head. "A guy your age should apply himself more or you'll never get to graduate. Do us both a favor and leave already."

He didn't seem interested in leaving, so she had to insist about it.

"Besides, I'm really exhausted now because the trip was longer than what I expected. It doesn't make sense to argue, I promise if you leave, I'll tell you everything later."

Okabe uncrossed his arms and seemed to forget his anger at once. In the face of that comment, it didn't make sense to insist on staying there. He noticed that Kurisu looked tired and he didn't want to make her more uncomfortable than necessary.

"Fine assistant, I'll do what you wish" he acceded. "But in return I need you to keep your eyes open. Even if we're in the Steins;Gate worldline, we can't dismiss the fact that evil is watching us. The Organization must be tracking this place too, perhaps before leaving I could..."

Helping her with her luggage and inspecting the security of the place, that's what he offered. Despite Kurisu's determination that he must leave, Okabe had the need to extend their encounter a little longer, although he wouldn't openly say it. He could at least be useful to her: the suitcase looked heavy for the stairs she had to take. It'd be much easier to carry that than to try to carry a 50 lbs. IBN together.

Kurisu panicked thinking about Okabe going into her new home and being alone with her, so she immediately rejected the offer. If by any chance he was thinking about trying to touch her or kiss her, she wouldn't have the needed sense or strength to reject him or ask for help in her actual state of mind. It was a very dangerous situation.

However, why would Okabe try something like that? He might be a pervert sometimes, but he had always been respectful when they were alone in the lab. Why would it be any different this time? Could it be that she wanted it to be different? No, she wasn't a pervert at all.

The suitcase was really heavy, and she had to take many floors. Kurisu was tired, and despite following her, Okabe was now being nice, so she could accept his help. Perhaps she could invite him in. Perhaps they had time to drink a Dk. Pepper together, perhaps she could give him advice about his college assignments, perhaps they could then order some dinner, perhaps they could stay chatting for some hours, perhaps it'd get too late and the trains would stop working, perhaps he wouldn't have any other option but to stay the night, perhaps...

"Don't worry, I can fight against the Organization or any of your delusions by myself" she finally responded.

The conversation ended there, and she watched as he was leaving back to the station, wondering for a long while if that had been the right decision.

She suddenly remembered that she was still on the street. At the entrance of the building people looked at her every once in a while, asking her indirectly if she was going to enter or not. She woke up from her lethargy and asked the person in charge for the apartment key. She went upstairs, cursing about the fact she had to carry all on her luggage by herself. Maybe making Okabe leave wasn't the best choice, but it was too late to regret it.

Once inside, she confirmed that despite not being a fancy place, it was very decent. It came furnished with all the basic needs and most of all, as she requested, a western style full size bed.

She dropped her suitcase on the side and tried the shower to get refreshed. After getting out, she ordered some food and laid down in bed. She called her mom; her mom asked her about her flight, about the apartment and advised her to sleep and eat well, like a good mother does. Next, she sent Maho-senpai a message, who was surely sleeping by now. She got her response quick.

_«Hiyajo Maho:_

_Bothersome as always, kohai._

_Remember that we don't want you back without a boyfriend, so have fun. »_

Kurisu decided to ignore the message; what was wrong with her senpai? She'd have fun doing experiments, like always, she didn't need a boyfriend for that. Instead, she'd rather think about the good opportunities that awaited her.

Through pictures, the Neurotechnology Research Laboratory seemed an agreeable place. She'd work full time every weekday and, on the weekends, she'd visit the Future Gadget Lab. She'd feel comfortable there too, although Okabe would call her irritating nicknames. He had already called "Christina" and "assistant" many times that day.

Among the technologies she wanted to try, there were some derived from the Visual Rebuilding Technology, developed previously in Victor Chondria. Thoughts could be transformed into virtual images and vice versa, but there were certain limitations in practice when it came to the unconscious cerebral processes. She would probably need volunteers in order to perfectionate it. Daru would be a bad choice, since everything that was in his head was surely perverted. But what was in Okabe's mind? Undoubtedly a bunch of nonsense.

There were direct train routes from Wako to Ikebukuro. Mayuri lived in the latter and perhaps Kurisu could visit her after work. It was also the same neighborhood where Okabe lived and maybe she could stop by and say hi as well. What did his room look like? It surely was a mess, full of porn magazines and things like that. She didn't care about what type of likes he had either.

Her stomach made loud noises: despite eating dinner, she was still hungry. Her mother told her to eat well, but she really wanted to buy her favorite pudding. She'd buy a bunch at the store and take some to have in Akihabara. She could write her name on them, but that wouldn't stop Okabe from eating them.

That was the way her thoughts went one after the other. Where would she wash her clothes? Okabe. What will she have for breakfast the next day? Okabe. What materials did she need for her experiments? Okabe. Okabe here, Okabe there. Okabe Rintarou came back to her thoughts time after time and trying to force him out of her head, she smothered her face with her pillow to the point of running out of air to breath.

"AH!" She screamed, letting a big puff out. "It's a lie, this can't be happening!"

She tried to continue lying to herself about what was happening.

"I can't really be in love with that idiot! Proof! I need some proof!"

She made one last effort: she'd think about Okabe, this time on purpose, to prove to herself that she didn't feel anything for him other than pure friendship. She'd convince herself that she didn't want to be with that idiot, that she didn't want to spend alone time with him, that she didn't want to be his girlfriend, that she wasn't interested in physical contact, that she didn't, she didn't, she didn't...

As soon as the figure of the mad scientist showed up in her memory, Kurisu understood that she had to give up already.

Serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine and endorphins filled her brain when she called his name, her heart beat at an accelerated rhythm, repeating his name. The symptoms and physiological reactions when she thought about his closeness were so obvious that they couldn't be ignored any longer.

Her senpai was right: she wasn't only in love, but absolutely crazy about Okabe Rintarou. Denying it was not wanting to accept reality and that wasn't proper for a good scientist.

She stayed like that for a long while thinking while looking at the ceiling. Now that she had accepted it, what would she have to get out of that state? Confessing would be the most logical and rational thing to do in her situation, or her brain wouldn't leave her alone.

What was the probability of having her feelings reciprocated? She didn't know exactly.

If she confessed her feelings, there existed the possibility of being rejected. It wouldn't be satisfactory at all, in fact, it would surely hurt. But for a good scientist, even a negative result was a useful result. She'd at least have an answer and she wouldn't live any longer on that cloud of speculation and fantasy that surrounds the feelings of love.

On the other hand, there also existed the possibility of being reciprocated and that, perhaps, was more terrifying than being rejected. It meant their relationship wouldn't be the same as before.

What did Okabe feel?

A strange dream disturbed Kurisu: it didn't occur often, but it tended to happen every so many months, especially after having traveled to Japan. In it, Okabe seemed to confess something about romantic feelings towards her and they kissed. Or rather, Kurisu kissed him and after, she received some kind of persuasion from Okabe to repeat it over and over. Finally, it ended abruptly, and she would wake up.

But _something_ with that dream was _wrong, very wrong_. She felt as if a terrible event was about to happen after that moment. She believed she was sad, and Okabe's face didn't seem to show he was feeling any better. When she tried to remember what they had been talking about a moment before kissing, her mind got a blockage, like trying to prevent her to access a very painful memory.

The mad scientist asserted that dreams were memories from other worldlines; she still didn't know what to believe about it.

After meeting him, she found out through the lab members that Okabe was being treated for PTSD. They said he had paranoia attacks when they were on the street, particularly, when he saw people wearing strange clothes or acting suspiciously. He also didn't let Mayuri get close to any platforms until after the trains opened their doors, according to him, from fear that she could be pushed into the rails. He also reacted with panic in the presence of blood.

Kurisu felt responsible, since she believed that his strange attitude was her fault. Okabe had been stabbed by her father and that must've left a deep impression in his mind.

She didn't understand what Okabe was doing there at the moment her father attacked her, but he explained to her that he knew that would occur, and that's why he had traveled in time to save her. To convince her about it, he showed her as evidence the date of his hospitalization check-in: August 21st, 2010. The conference and incident with Nakabachi happened on July 28th. Kurisu remembered it well, because she had made a police report the same day.

It was logical to think that the events were out of the ordinary. A person can't be stabbed one day and then live in that state up until being taken to the hospital and getting a surgery three weeks after, without bleeding out in the process. But the only witnesses of that temporal imbalance of events were Kurisu and her father. Daru and Mayuri only remembered finding Okabe in Radio's Kaikan's roof in August, and then calling the ambulance, without knowing who had been responsible for the incident.

Given the solid evidence, Kurisu had to at least accept the possibility that a machine like the one Okabe described could've existed and he could've used it. She had written a theoretical paper about the subject, presenting the possibility.

One thing was traveling back in time and another was believing that it was definite proof that the multiverse existed. That is to say, more than just the trip, Okabe also talked to her not only about the regression, but about a lateral displacement. One that involved the total alteration of the physical reality as they knew it, and even the replacement of everyone's memories. Strangely, the only one with the ability to verify the change was Okabe: a big coincidence at a statistical level, almost one in a million or more.

He didn't want to give her more evidence of the mechanism of a worldline shift, and neither he accepted her proposal to search together for an objective way to prove them. Okabe insisted that they were now living in the "Steins;Gate" and that was enough.

But if her strange dream wasn't only that, and if they had really kissed in another worldline, why didn't he ever tell her? if he did have that _Reading Steiner_ thing or whatever it was called and could remember everything, why didn't he ever mention it or even hint her about it?

Had he forgotten it already? Had the feelings he confessed to her been temporary? Wasn't it necessary anymore to consider what happened? Wasn't he interested about it any longer?

A thought crossed her mind and it bothered her.

"After all, he has plenty to choose from, right? He's surrounded by pretty women" she said to herself irritated. "Fairis-san, Kiryu-san, even Urushibara-san also admired him a lot."

Even though Urushibara was a guy, but so what? She wouldn't even be surprised if Hashida Itaru ended in love with Okabe as well. It seemed it was part of the mad scientist's personality to attract others, and he felt pleased with the big number of lab members. He had even added Maho to the list.

Especially his self-named "hostage" loved her dear "Okarin". Although she didn't talk about her feelings, Kurisu believed those were evident:

"Mayuri-chan has to be in love with him, it would foolish to think otherwise."

They were childhood friends; they had a story together. Mayuri had been the first lab member after he founded it. Who knows how many moments they had spent alone. It was Mayuri who stayed by his side all the time and who supported him when it was needed. Even when he was in the hospital, she didn't leave his side, and with her support he managed to overcome the PTSD symptoms.

Kurisu couldn't do that, because the only thing she knew how to do was to argue with the man whom now she admitted being in love with. Besides, she lived at the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

"Thinking about it, it would be selfish to confess before Mayuri does" she reproached herself.

Shiina Mayuri was a good girl, the kind that would turn into a caring girlfriend. The kind that waits for her boyfriend with a smile always on her face. She wouldn't have any issues expressing her feelings once she took that step.

She didn't think that Okabe would be able to reject Mayuri's feelings either. Having a girlfriend could be a good motivation for him; Kurisu trusted that, behind that mad scientist's façade he used to distract her, there was a man that cared for his wellbeing. Maybe getting into a relationship would make him reflect about himself and would help him think about having real things to offer. Perhaps it would get the best out of him.

But if Okabe and Mayuri became a couple, it would be hard to get over it for Kurisu. She now knew that she also wanted that spot: she wanted to be with Okabe. Leaving her annoying tsundere ways aside which were part of her personality; in other words: being honest with herself.

Even then, how could she rob her friend from the happiness of being with the man she loved? Plus, could she even be a better girlfriend than Mayuri? Perhaps destiny would choose them as a couple, and with time Kurisu could accept seeing them together and be happy for them.

She made a decision: she'd talk about the subject with Mayuri. She'd tell her to confess to Okabe first, because she had that right. But if she was wrong, if Mayuri didn't feel what Kurisu thought, Kurisu will finally feel free to confess to Okabe without any remorse.

And whatever happened, happened.

Despite clearing her mind, she couldn't sleep. It had to be the jetlag effect, because despite being late, her organism felt it was early. She then entertained herself with her pone, thinking she needed to send an apology.

Meanwhile, and hours before, Okabe Rintarou had taken the Tobu Toyo line to return to Ikebukuro. As soon as he arrived, he went to his room and his phone vibrated in his pocket:

_«Mayuri:_

_Okarin, did you manage to see Kurisu-chan as you wanted_ _(^_^)?_ »

Makise Kurisu used to come and go from Japan to the United States and her visits were always short. That day, when Mayuri told him that Kurisu was there, he, without thinking, marched towards Wako.

He achieved his goal to see her, but despite managing to do it, he wasn't pleased.

_«Hououin Kyoma:_

_I got member 004 visual confirmation, she seems to be in good health, although I have serious suspicious that her head was brainwashed by the Organization. »_

_«Mayuri:_

_Eh! Someone washed Kurisu's-chan head without her wanting it? I hope she doesn't get sick (._.)»_

Okabe couldn't accept the excuse she had given him: it would've been simpler to tell him from the beginning that she didn't have time or felt like seeing him, but intentionally ignoring him? Letting everyone know that she'd come but him? That had been a cruel maneuver, even for a tsundere.

However, he believed that Kurisu enjoyed being in the Future Gadget Labe and because of that, she always came back. He trusted that she'd always come back. He expected her to always come back.

He wished that she always came back.

The future of a totally unknown place now, but he was willing to accept whatever had to happen. After all, that was the choice of Steins;Gate.

Hours went by but he couldn't sleep.

He needed the rest for his school routine, but he couldn't seem to find a remedy. So, to not continue thinking of his assistant, he spent some time looking at @channel.

In the occultism forum there were people that talked about how an ancient civilization had predicted the end of the world for the end of the current year. Bunch of nonsense: the world would end when Hououin Kyouma arranged it.

What caught his attention was a person that assured that SERN was having problems with the LHC. This continued to be active, but a round of experiments had ruined the equipment and an option to put it out of commission to repair it was being evaluated. The person that initiated the conversation said he was a relative of one of the scientists that worked in the place and claimed with confidence that the damage was important and maybe, irreparable.

Without the LHC, would it be the end of SERN? Okabe didn't want to get his hopes up. For now, he trusted on his lack of knowledge camouflage, and believed he could manage to live a peaceful life without getting involved with them.

A sudden message interrupted him:

_«Assistant:_

_I'm sorry I didn't appropriately tell you I was coming, Okabe. »_

He smiled to himself: she was actually apologizing.

He knew he had to respond fast.

_«Hououin Kyouma:_

_Apology accepted Christina. As for me, you can believe I won't allow anybody to stalk you or chase you without your approval, me included. »_

Admitting a mistake wasn't showing weakness, on the contrary: it was evidence of wisdom.

Plus, he didn't want to stay mad at her.

_«Assistant:_

_I'm very happy to read that._

_You know, I'm doing a research internship in Wako. You understand, is normal in the field, spending time in different labs exchanging techniques, knowledge and stuff like that. »_

He had never had the opportunity to do an exchange, but he believed that the situation was a good fit for Kurisu, who with her recognition and ability, was always welcome in other labs, particularly in his.

_«Assistant:_

_My stay will last until new year. I'll be very busy with the experiments, but luckily, I'll have weekends free to visit you all. »_

Three whole months? That was a longer amount of time than what she used to stay in Japan.

It was definitely great news.


	3. Genetic Inheritance

**Chapter Three**

**Genetic Inheritance**

_Monday, October 1st, 2012_

Makise Kurisu was finishing setting her belongings in the RIKEM, when she was told that she wouldn't work alone.

"Nice meeting you, Makise-sensei!" a young red-haired man greeted her. "My name is Usui Keitarou. I hope to learn a lot from you."

The young man's hands and legs shook because he couldn't handle the strange feeling that encounter gave him. He hadn't realized the meaning of traveling to the past: the obsolete technology, the out of style fashion, the city's different air, none of those things made him understand. Not until seeing in person his own mother's younger face.

At that moment, he feared that his plan could crumble. She was taking too long to respond to the greeting, as if she had a troubling issue in mind. Did she recognize him? Was she mad? Would she reproach him for having stolen a time machine she had designed? For traveling to the past to spy on her?

No, there was no way to expose him: it was years before he was born. Even then, Keitarou respected her, feeling guilty for lying about his identity.

Kurisu simply limited herself to look at the young man with curiosity. She couldn't clearly see his face because he had bowed when greeting her; instead, she observed the long lab coat he wore. It had a yellowish tint and it was worn out, as if it had been intensively used for several years. Just by looking at it she knew it was of the style and size she brought Okabe in the United States, to gift it to him last Christmas.

Okabe wore it all the time, even the previous day. It meant that he really liked it. That year, instead of exchanging presents, they could go out together and have some fun. Or wasn't that something that Japanese couples did...? But no, before thinking about that possibility, she needed to talk to Mayuri about who would confess first. There was also Okabe's opinion to be heard, would he want to go out? She didn't think he was the type of guy that preferred spending Christmas Eve playing boardgames at home or watching anime, was he?

Doctor Yamagata, who was the head of the Neurotechnology Research laboratory and who introduced them, made a head movement towards the woman for her to respond already. Kurisu then noticed that she had gotten distracted thinking about Okabe while the young "Usui" waited on his bowed position, nervous due to the long pause.

"Nice meeting you too, Usui-san. I hope we can work well together." She courteously said.

Once the introduction was over, Keitarou relaxed.

His infiltration had been a success: she didn't seem to suspect his true identity. Instead, Yamagata didn't seem convinced with his presence.

"It looks like this guy finished college in the United States and at 17. He was admitted into the Institute's Junior program and assigned to this laboratory to work with us. This happened so fast and in such an unusual time, that it looks like it came out of nowhere." The man said while reading thoughtfully the sheet with the information of the newcomer. "Anyway, I asked the other members if they wanted to take charge to integrate him, but they all said they were busy with their projects. Do me a favor and keep him with you, Makise-san, if not, I'd have to send him back to the Americans, ho-ho-ho!"

Yamagata Shouhei was a short height man, with gray hair, glasses and a big belly. Due to his appearance and his strange laugh, he obtained the nickname of "Santa Claus of the Japanese Science." All the members of the lab were used to his eccentric personality, but his last laughs took Makise Kurisu and Usui (former Okabe) Keitarou off guard.

When he finished laughing, the scientist noticed the violaceous-blue eyes that were looking at him with confusion. He realized it wasn't common for two Japanese people to share such pigmentation, and with the perspicacity of a person that has dedicated all his life to nature's research, he asked them:

"Wait a moment, you don't see two red-haired gifted people every day. Are you related?"

Keitarou knew that what the man guessed wasn't a delirium. The production and distribution of melanin is an offspring's transmittable characteristics. Knowing that principle, it wasn't extraordinary at all that a mother and a son shared the same eye and hair color. It was a matter of genetic inheritance.

He doubted his answer, but Kurisu went ahead of him:

"I don't remember having a relative with the Usui surname." She said.

"I don't have a family member named Makise either." He added.

"It's better this way!" Yamagata exclaimed. "It'd be a shame that the intelligence was kept in certain families, there would be too little for the rest of us. Now, go to work, ho-ho-ho!"

While seeing him walk away, Kurisu felt that she had the honor to meet the great Anzai-sensei in person, while Keitarou wondered if instead of Usui he should've picked Sakuragi as his surname. With the introductions and unnecessary references finished, they were finally alone.

She looked at the unknown young man she'd work with and thought that it'd be good for the coexistence to get to know him better.

"Well, Usui-san, Yamagata said that you come from the United States, are you half-American?"

For Keitarou, the person he had in front of him was the woman from whom he received 22 autosomes, an allosome and all his mitochondrial DNA. The first person he met and with who he lived the longest part of his life. But she couldn't recognize him.

He believed that, while he controlled the contents of his words, there wouldn't be an issue giving her some information.

"No, both of my parents are Japanese, but we live overseas since I was a kid. I did my schooling there."

"What did you study in college?" Kurisu asked afterwards.

"I took several courses in advanced physics, but my specialization field is neuroscience. I did my final project in that area."

"He also said you graduated at 17."

"That's right, although I turned 18 in July."

Kurisu thought for a moment about what she heard.

"That's intriguing, it seems like you and I have some things in common."

"You think so? But it must be a coincidence, Makise-sensei."

Keitarou couldn't blame the genetic inheritance from his erroneous academical choices. Those were the decision of a confused teenager whom took his mother as an example to follow.

That didn't need an explanation at that moment.

"So, what brought you back to Japan?" Kurisu continued asking.

"I had some friends in Tokyo and I wanted to be close to them..."

The so-called friends weren't more than a single childhood friend. Although in the future he never told his mother about his feelings for Hashida Suzuha.

"...so, I moved to Ikebukuro with my grandparents." He added after.

"Ikebukuro? Do you live there?"

Keitarou realized his slip.

"Did I say Ikebukuro? I meant Itabashi! Yes, it's there were I live now."

He had gotten carried away from the familiarity and had given more information than necessary. He needed to be more careful.

Despite the correction, when looking at the face of the boy, Kurisu believed for an instant to have in front of her the 18-year-old young man in a lab coat and from Ikebukuro that she met two years ago. She soon realized that wasn't the case, and before getting carried away thinking about Okabe again, she decided to concentrate on keeping the conversation going.

"It's strange to me that I never heard of you, Usui-san, what was your research about?"

"Well, it was about..." He began to wonder if he should respond or not. "...about the recovery of memories in an model of amnesia."

"That sounds interesting. What magazine published the results? I'm surprised I haven't read it yet." Kurisu commented.

Did he have to confess that the work was published in a magazine with a low impact factor, so it went notoriously unnoticed by the scientific community? She'd find out sooner or later.

"The work wasn't that good, and it didn't have any repercussions. I'm not surprised you didn't notice it." He responded, a little disappointed on himself.

"It's a shame to hear that, but I'd like to read it anyway, could you give me a copy?"

"I'll send you one later."

But he wouldn't do it. The paper was dated in 2035, so it was out of any possibility.

"Who was your lab director? Perhaps I know the person."

Would he tell her that his lab director was an expert in the field of artificial intelligence and computational neuroscience? And that she was a known person in his family, with a peculiar height and personality?

No, if he continued responding, the curiosity of that woman would make her want even more and more. Like that, they would soon arrive to the point where he'd have to also tell her that his father was an inventor, his sister a type of informatics prodigy, and his mother... it'd be evident who she was.

He must finish the interrogatory.

"I belonged to a small group and I don't think you know my supervisor." He answered in a rush. "On the other hand, you are very famous in the field. Instead of continuing talking about me, I'd like to know what you have to teach me, Makise-sensei."

"Wait, Usui-san, I don't think it's correct that you call me 'sensei'." Kurisu interrupted. "I mean, I haven't finished my PhD and it feels weird to be called that."

"I apologize, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable!"

Once again, the familiarity had played against him. In the future, all her students used to call her "Makise-sensei," indistinctly of their nationality. It was a type of custom in the University that even her son respected, but it had been a mistake to use it with such anticipation.

"Is it okay if I call you Makise-senpai?"

When hearing that word, a known person with a particular height and character came to the mind of Kurisu. The mental image made her shiver when remembering her warning: We don't want you back without a boyfriend.

"To be honest, I'm also new here." She responded looking around. "Makise-san will be good enough for me."

He could only shake his head in response. He was afraid to ruin it and call her "mom" instead, but he'd control himself as much as he could.

Kurisu felt a vibration inside her clothes.

"I suppose we must stop the chat; we have pending work." She said, repeatedly touching her pocket. "What if we start calibrating the equipment? Do you know how to do it, Usui-san?"

"Yes! I'll do it right away, Makise-san!"

The young man went straight to accomplish his task.

But before following after him, Kurisu took a moment to get her phone out and answer the RINE message she had just received.

* * *

 

_Friday, October 5th, 2012_

Being Friday afternoon, Makise Kurisu concluded the last round of experiments. She stretched her arms, and she then walked towards her partner, who was tasked with registering the results.

"Well, how many do we have with the last one?" She asked.

"698 total." Keitarou responded, reading the screen. "236 in the first and second groups and 231 in the remaining one."

"That'll be enough to start."

It was a sample of a considerable size, suitable to make a good statistical comparison. She stopped for a moment to think about the number: she didn't remember having collected such a number of experimental data on her own before. But now that she had access to a partner with the capacity to keep up with her rhythm, the intensive work of that week was finished faster than she believed possible.

Kurisu was used to working alone. People was afraid of her due to her status as being a prodigy girl and therefore they ran away from her, but she must admit that this new experience working in a team was being satisfactory.

The young Usui worked in an software with the obtained numbers. Kurisu hadn't asked him to do anything in particular, so intrigued about what he was doing, she got closer to him.

Keitarou, who knew her well enough, didn't need her to ask him anything to inform her of what she wanted to know.

"I'm inspecting if there are any aberrant data, and verifying the type of distribution to apply the parametric tests."

Kurisu didn't respond to his comment. Instead, she dedicated him a prolonged look that reflected uncertainty.

He feared there was some kind of problem, otherwise, why was she looking at him that way?

"Excuse me, am I making a mistake, Makise-san?" He asked.

"No, you're doing well. Please continue."

She moved away, but didn't stop looking at him while thinking: what was it? what was special about Usui Keitarou that reminded her so much of Okabe Rintarou when looking at him straight? There were similarities between them? If that was the case, which ones?

But there was the possibility that the issue wasn't anything but a feeling of hers. They were two different people.

Usui Keitarou was respectful and educated in his treatment. As a lab partner, he had surpassed her personal expectations: they understood each other well. He was always willing to do the work, knew all the procedures and could get ahead of the steps to follow. He was well trained in the everyday tasks of a scientist, perhaps because he had been under the supervision of a good director.

Even then, at times, the young man acted insecure under her presence. She felt he called her "mom" once, although he fixed it immediately. Other times, he didn't react to his surname, as if he wasn't being called. There were times when he became nervous when they talked about everyday things, or when she reminded him to send her a copy of his paper. Perhaps he was timid with his previous work because he had avoided talking about it.

On the other hand, Okabe Rintarou fancied being a "mad scientist," role that he executed under the ridiculous alias "Hououin Kyouma." With his eccentric personality and many times obnoxious, Okabe tended to express his opinion about the subjects that interested him, even when he didn't have the theoretical knowledge needed to defend his arguments. Every time they debated about science, Kurisu ended giving him a beating, perhaps as a revenge from the rain of nicknames she received.

Okabe wasn't organized either when it came to make experiments: he didn't care about writing reports of the results, not even taking into account that he ignored most of the statistical models, proper of quantitative research. He tended to skip or reorder the steps of the scientific method at his whim and when the Future Gadgets Lab had a project, almost always its execution fell under Hashida Itaru or Kurisu, who solved the technical obstacles.

But she didn't deny that he sometimes had very good ideas. Specially, his great strength resided in having a big conviction, and not giving up easily when facing a problem. But these were compliments that she didn't dare say to him in person.

In that moment, they had an active discussion through RINE, discussion that they couldn't solve throughout the week. Now that Kurisu had finished her part of the job, she could take a little break to use her phone.

Keitarou, for his part, continued on his task without many emotions and making an effort to resist quitting every moment. He did his work rapidly, not because it was the right step to make, but with the goal to finish that torturous chore. He thought he could finish soon, but when examining one by one the numbers they had gotten, he began to feel that things weren't going well. It didn't seem that only a couple of data were wrong, but that all of them had a certain dispersive charge that, in theory, shouldn't exist.

He got up to revise the machine with which they performed the experience: no, the error wasn't in the apparatus' initial calibration that Keitarou did, nor in the adjustment parameters. The blame seemed to be that his mother had used it in an incorrect way. Yamagata had warned them that one of the two sensors that the machine had was broken and it tended to give deviated values, higher as much as lower than the real one. She had used that sensor instead of the one that worked correctly. Due to the lack of consistency with which the measurements deviated, it'd be difficult to correct the problem. Even if they tried it, the numbers wouldn't represent that which in reality they wanted to measure.

In conclusion: the experiment couldn't be saved. It had been a week of wasted work in a bunch of useless results. A total failure. A waste. The only alternative was to do it all from the beginning.

"Is there something going on with the data?" Kurisu asked from her seat when looking at the young man's worried look.

"No, it's nothing!" Keitarou answered rapidly. "Everything is in order, Makise-san."

She went back to her phone conversation.

To him, it was better to hide it, he didn't want to do the 698 practices again. Thinking about repeating the experience would be a nightmare.

He hadn't traveled back to the past with the intention to work in a lab, he would've even preferred that Hashida Suzuha forced him to practice with her bungee jump in the Tokyo Sky Tree. Moreover, why did he make the mistake of studying neuroscience in the first place? Hiyajo-sensei had warned him: he'd never become anything chasing another person's shadow, specially one as big as his mother's.

His only goal by staying next to her was to watch everything she'd been doing around that time. But none of that had any relationship with the anonymous future gadget and the unknown experiment he expected to find.

Plus, the scientific work they were conducting didn't really matter: he knew beforehand that it would fail. It was printed in his mother's personal history, who told him that her research experience in Wako had been the worst of her career. Although he would've wanted to help avoid it, it was probable that the world line where they were would converge again and something else would fail after, arriving most of the times at the same conclusion.

But beyond destiny's caprice, Keitarou wondered why she couldn't realize the problem on her own.

His mother was a high level and very respected scientist by her equals in the future due to her sharp sense when it came to do research. These kinds of mistakes weren't proper of her, rather, they look like the belonged to the work of an amateur.

She wasn't completely focused on what she was doing, so perhaps she didn't pay attention to Yamagata's initial warning. Every time she had the chance, she typed a message and after she checked her phone over and over. She waited eagerly for a reply.

"Eh! What is wrong with this idiot now?" Kurisu exclaimed in a high voice after reading the message that her phone had received. "Does he want me to turn his hippocampus into a flower base?"

The scientists that were present in the lab turned around to look at her in the face of the exclamation, but she didn't seem interested in anyone other than the person on the other side of the screen.

For Keitarou, there was no doubts about the identity of the interlocutor: it was the person from whom he had inherited 22 autosome chromosomes, plus a sexual chromosome of the type Y, his second biological progenitor. They were in touch.

Around that time, his father wasn't more than an average college student, like so many Japanese citizens. What was special about him for a genius like his mother to give his madness so much attention? Keitarou didn't understand. But he knew that she and that man would have a son in six years, product of divergency's fate.

Even with that, three more years had to go by before they married. A little after they'd have a daughter, although she'd happen without them being able to avoid it. From that moment on, the Okabe family would be complete, and they would keep their marriage working for 15 more year, at least, up until the day their children steal the time machine.

That's what that worldline had waiting for her.

"Makise-san, can I say you something?"

Kurisu raised her head and paid attention to him.

"Yes, tell me, what is it about?"

Hashida Suzuha reproached him for giving too much importance to the fact that his parents weren't married when he was born. Why did it matter anyway? Did that make any difference? She knew that Makise Kurisu and Okabe Rintarou loved their son, even when he suffered from strange amnesias.

But Suzuha didn't really know the secrets of the Okabe family. Secrets that Keitarou could reveal to the person that, in that moment, attentively waited to hear whatever he had to say.

He could tell her that the family problems would begin before he was born, in theory, at some point during the current year. Everything due to an experiment that Okabe Rintarou would do, probably with the help of his "assistant." An event so strange and inexplicable that it would alter the quantum spacetime as it was known, and with that, the future.

He would never try to fix it and wouldn't let anyone else try. He would defend that position, calling it "the choice of Steins; Gate."

Despite Makise Kurisu being indifferent to the changes in the world lines, she'd have to be on charge of a family that wouldn't be one. Her descendance would carry that genetic phenomena called "Reading Steiner" and that would mark her own destiny as well.

His mother insisted that she didn't regret her decisions. That she accepted her reality as it was: the problems they had weren't as serious, nor impossible to manage. After all, every family has its peculiarities.

But Keitarou knew that her version from the past had the opportunity to choose again.

If he explained to her what it meant to be a member of the Okabe family, if he explained to her the way they lived their life in the future, perhaps this time, she'd prefer to take a different route. An unknown one, but maybe easier.

Keitarou wouldn't blame her for that. It'd be logical if that was the case.

"Usui-san, did you want to tell me something?"

Kurisu began to get impatient with the sudden mutism from his interlocutor.

"It's nothing Makise-san. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you." He responded.

Telling her the truth could change everything, but better not rush into taking steps that couldn't be untaken.

He was in the past, so he could take the responsibility of fixing the future with his own hands. He just needed to find the right way to do it.

Kurisu looked confused: Usui was acting strange again. She wanted to ask him of the matter in that moment, but her eyes then went to the digital clock.

"I think it's time to go."

Both arranged their working stations, turned their equipment off and got their belongings. But before going their separate ways, she called him:

"By the way, Usui-san, I'd like to tell you something."

Keitarou moved his head to let her know he was listening attentively.

"You should switch that lab coat. It doesn't look good that a scientist wears such an old garment. It's really worn out and it's been stitched up with a pink thread." She said, pointing at his shoulder.

He looked towards the direction of her finger: she was right, it was pink.

He found that coat in his grandparents' house, it must've belonged to his father in the past. It wasn't that he wanted to "imitate" him as Hashida claimed, but he shared his same clothes size and he packed it for his trip because he didn't have another one available.

"I'll try to get a new one."

"It'll be better that way." Kurisu assented. "Let's continue with this working rhythm next week, agree?"

"Agreed, Makise-san."

She said good bye and left first. Moments later, Keitarou left the building. He waited until nobody else was around and took the lab coat off. He didn't like wearing it, it wasn't part of his personal style. Luckily, he had with him a bag with his black coat and the gloves that Hashida gifted him. Putting them on made him feel so much better.

It was late in the afternoon in Wako. They had worked for longer hours than he had imagined.

He left heading to Itabashi, where he rented an apartment to be close to the Institute. This was very small and didn't have more than a kitchen, a table and a futon. He couldn't afford any more amenities than those.

It was the first time he lived alone and didn't have to cook for other people like he used to. However, having diner like this felt lonely. Even when he spent all day with his mother, he didn't have the chance to share a meal with her, the way they'd do in the future.

After finishing washing his plate, he opened a Dk Pepper, while turning on the old telephone. It was a piece of ancient history that he didn't like to use from fear of breaking it, but it was time to know how his childhood friend was doing.

He pressed the option to make a videocall and waited until the line connected.

"Hello, Keitarou. You finally call us."

On the other side of the screen, there was the pixeled figure of Hashida Suzuha, with a cup of ramen in her hand. She seemed to be in a hotel room, and he could even make out his sister in a corner, looking at a type of board.

"Hello, Hashida-san. I'm glad to see you again."

He was really pleased to see her, because the figure of Suzuha in pajamas and without her distinctive braids was hard to witness. Like a legendary digital creature that was shown to only a few chosen ones; although due to the deficient call quality, perhaps it could be similar to finding MissingNo.

"You didn't respond to the messages and I was concerned about you." She scolded him. "We believed that something had happened to you and that you were crying in some corner."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I was busy and I just now can speak in peace."

"Interesting. Let me guess what you did all this time."

Before continuing, Suzuha slurped her last noodles and after cleaning her mouth, she meditated her response. When she believed she had the answer, she added:

"You spent your savings in a bunch of porn material, and you didn't have time to see it all. That was it, right?"

Keitarou almost spilled his drink when he heard her.

"You are mistaken, Hashida-san, you always are!" He protested. "And stop making those statements!"

Those type of comments were very upsetting, although perhaps Suzuha couldn't help to make them. It must be something in her genes. For her, perversion was a normal part of human nature.

"Fine, I'll try not to make them, but don't get mad about it." She defended herself. "If you didn't have time to call us is because you achieved your goal, am I wrong?"

"No, you're right this time. I spent the whole week in the RIKEM. Tell my sister that I thank her for helping me infiltrate."

Shizuka could probably hear them, but she didn't seem particularly interested in their conversation.

"Did you manage see your mom?"

"Not only did I manage to see her, but we were working together." He cleared.

"Really? I thought you only wanted to spy on her, but it seems you went straight to her."

It wasn't part of his objective being all the time next to her, but that's the way things turned out.

"Tell us Keitarou! How was aunt Kurisu in the past?"

Hashida Suzuha was excited about hearing his experience. Shizuka raised her head from the board to pay attention.

"I don't know how to explain it. I can feel she's the same of always, but the fact that she's younger confuses me." He indicated, meditating the issue. "At least, her scientific work is as intense as it is in the future, although the strangest part is that she's so distracted when she does it."

"Distracted? What do you mean?" Suzuha asked intrigued.

"She tends to be focused on whatever she does, but now she won't stop checking her phone all the time. I'm sure that she's talking with that man, you know, 'Hououin Kyouma.' It looks like he's the cause of her errors in this time."

Suzuha smiled on the other side of the screen when hearing the last part.

"That means that uncle Okarin and aunt Kurisu are very close in this time."

"I expected them to contact each other when mom went back to Japan. I tried to check her phone to find out what it is they're planning to do together, but I haven't had the chance. She doesn't leave her phone not even for a minute, she seems obsessed with checking it."

He could ask his sister to try to access it from a distance, but he wanted to do it on his own, like a true spy.

"It'd be fun to find out that they're actually sending each other love messages. I always had the feeling that they were very passionate in their younger years." Suzuha commented. "Who knows, if they're so affectionate, you could even have an older brother soon."

He got grossed out from the comment, what kind of nightmare was Hashida talking about? He couldn't image a more disgusting situation.

To him, his parents weren't more than two asexual beings that liked talking about science, creating future gadgets, and working the way any other pair of adults did. Furthermore, the moment that the universe decided for them to have a son, the stork intervened: a biotechnological bird of the highest level, able to mix genetic materials from both parents and turn in the final product in the shape of a human baby without any type of physical contact between them. He had been created that way, although he also felt that even the super intelligent birds could make some mistakes.

He also had the hypothesis that they found his sister in some kind of extraterrestrial mutant cabbage. But storks and cabbages were the most logical explanation.

Love messages were out of that scheme.

"They must be talking about a new future gadget. That's the most probable situation." He responded.

"That sounds boring." Suzuha protested.

For her part, Shizuka went back to work on her board.

"Hashida-san, do you know what's happening in the old lab? Perhaps they're working on what we're looking for."

Suzuha seemed dubious at the question. After a moment, she adventured to admit the truth.

"I'll be honest, I still don't know anything about the old lab. I haven't even confirmed its location."

Keitarou was surprised. More than a whole week had gone by and Akihabara wasn't such a big place to not haven't found it in that time.

"Could it be that the building was demolished?"

Perhaps it would've been better sending her to Ikebukuro to follow that man, although he believed it wasn't necessary.

"I'm pretty sure the building still exists, but I have an issue and that's why I haven't gone to the address your dad gave me."

"An issue? What is it?"

Silence took over the other side of the screen. Did the call drop? No, besides the bad quality, it was still working.

It was Suzuha that wasn't responding.

"Did something happen?"

"The truth is that…"

She was talking too long to finish the sentence, so long that he was beginning to worry.

"What happened? Something bad?" He insisted, without much success. "Please, tell me! Do you need my help?"

Suzuha was strong, but not completely invulnerable and he was getting worried.

"No, I'm fine." She responded and closed her eyes.

She decided to confess it all at once.

"But to tell the truth, I bought a bicycle and I got busy riding around all week. That's why I didn't search for the lab."

Her comment was followed by a prolonged silence. It was him who had become muted now.

"Come on, I know I made a mistake, but I couldn't help it." Suzuha explained while Keitarou kept on being quiet. "You have to understand me, riding a bike in the past is special, Tokyo looked like a whole new city. You should try it; exercising is very relaxing. I even thought of a couple of places we can visit together. Didn't you say we could have fun, did you?"

He sighed.

Even when he wanted to, he couldn't get mad at Hashida Suzuha. She was kind of right: they had traveled to the past together and they hadn't done anything other than playing videogames.

"Hashida-san, we'll ride a bike on the Great Chinese Wall if that's what you want, but before we need to finish our businesses in 2012. I don't want to stay in this time longer than needed."

"You're right, it wouldn't be good to stay too long here." She affirmed. "I could stop by the lab tomorrow, or do you prefer I give you the address so you can check it out yourself?"

"No, I'm sure that mom will be in Akihabara tomorrow. I don't want her to suspect I'm following her."

Now that they worked together, she could recognize him. If she started seeing him everywhere, he would surely get her attention.

But the real reason was to avoid running into his father.

"It'll be best that you find a way to infiltrate the place. I need you to watch the lab and also Okabe Rintarou, if it's possible, obtain all the information that you can about his plans."

Suzuha meditated the last part. She didn't seem very convinced with that task.

"Spying on uncle Okarin in the lab will be a very hard mission Keitarou. I mean, I can't simply knock on the door and say, 'hello, I'm a member from the future and I'd like to know what you're doing,' right?"

Doing that would be confessing it all, so it was out of the question.

"You're smart. I know you'll figure something out to trick him."

She seemed to doubt the task again, but he wanted to convince her at all costs.

The mission could fail if they didn't get ahead the exact moment where that machine had been created. After that, it could be too late.

"You are the most indicated person for this job. I'd give it to Shizuka, but she'd ruin it all." He didn't care if his sister could hear him. "I know I'm asking something strange, but I promise you I'll compensate you. If you succeed, we'll do whatever you want."

It was likely that they did that anyway, even if she denied it at that moment. Almost always, they did whatever she wanted, but he couldn't help it: after all, he was in love.

Suzuha resumed her usual happy expression.

"Okey-Dokey. If you ask like this, I'll find a way to infiltrate the lab and find out what they're designing. I give you my word as a Soldier."

The conversation could be taken as finished with the promise.

"You are the real spy, Hashida-san. I trust I can leave this issue in your hand."

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Suzuha asked.

"I have no doubt I'll find some new career." He affirmed with a strange accent. "See you, spacetime cowboy."

"See you, future child number 32." She responded.

The communication ended.

After putting his phone away, Keitarou tried to take another sip from his drink, but the Dk Pepper was already empty in his hands.

He hadn't noticed that he had been drinking nonstop. Although he didn't like admitting it, that guy was right: the older formula was better. When did the company have the bad idea to change its recipe? Somebody should stop it.

Without anything else to do that day, he took the singular pin badge he carried as an amulet out of his coat and laid down on the futon, watching it with the light that leaked through his window.

He couldn't deny it, he was curious to know what the famous "Future Gadget Lab" looked like. Not the symbolic in the future, but the physical one that Hououin Kyouma had founded in Akihabara in 2010.

The truth was that he couldn't remember anymore the last time he called that man "dad." It had to be a couple of years back, when they still chatted. Suzuha reproached him for refusing to talk to his father, he was being immature. A babyish future child.

But what his friend didn't understand was that it was some kind of an untold agreement between both men: neither Okabe Keitarou would speak to Okabe Rintarou, nor Okabe Rintarou would bother Okabe Keitarou.

Perhaps there was a time that existed where both could do things together as a father and son, but that was in the past.

Although relatively speaking, that hadn't happened yet.


	4. Round Table (and JumpingRabbit011)

**Chapter Four**

**Round Table (and JumpingRabbit011)**

_Saturday, October 6th, 2012_

“Okarin, tuturu! We’re here!”

A femenine figure entered the “Future Gadget Lab” spinning animatedly around using the bag she carried as counterweight.

“So-sorry for the delay.” Another person followed behind, greeting everyone with a little shyness.

However, the atmosphere they witnessed once inside was distressing: “Okarin” was standing in the middle of the room arguing with a redheaded woman in front of him. Neither one of them seemed to pay any attention to what happened around.

Sitting in a chair with a boring face and his arms crossed was a young robust man, who raised a hand as a welcoming signal after seeing the guests. Next to him, the computer screen had been moved from its usual spot to face towards the center of the place. On it, the figure of a blond woman with glasses could be seen.

“Hello Moeka-san!” Mayuri greeted, raising her hand towards the screen.

The communication through Skipe included its microphone and behind the blonde woman, the ambient noises reached the lab speakers which indicated the clarity of the call. However, instead of responding in the same way in which she was greeted, a chat notification was heard:

_«Shining Finger:_

_Hello! So glad you arrived o( >ω<)o. _

_The image of those two was starting to bore me.»_

“What’s going on here Daru-kun?” Mayuri asked while sitting in her favorite spot on the couch and putting her bag on the side.

“The environment seems hostile.” Ruka added, sitting next to her.

“Those two hard headed have spent a long while arguing, I believe they’ve broken their own record.” He answered.

Again, the Skipe ring resounded in the room, announcing a new message:

« _Kiryu Moeka_ :

I _t’s been 37 minutes and it doesn’t seem like they will reach an agreement (_ _＞﹏＜_ _).»_

Okabe Rintarou and Makise Kurisu continued being submerged into their dynamic and didn’t give any signs that they would finish anytime soon. Then Hashida Itaru, already tired of hearing them, got up from his seat and yelled at them to catch their attention.

“Hey you two! If we want this to get hot, start taking your lab coats off. You look all sweaty already, hehe.”

“Shut up you pervert!” The aforementioned exclaimed in unison.

“It’s “perverted gentleman” for you! And finish with this now, it’s become boring witnessing your tsundere courtship ritual.”

They ignored the last part of the sentence, but noticed that everyone was watching them.

“Daru is right, it’s time to end this. Admit your defeat , Christina.” Okabe said, taking the lead.

“Ah? What nonsense are you going about now, Okabe?” Kurisu responded, determined not to give in. “And I remind you that there’s no “tina” in my name.”

“Damn it, you are a very problematic assistant.”

She was about to reply to his comment, which would make that argument much longer. But Mayuri intervened first, getting in the space that separated them.

“Okarin, Kurisu-chan, please don’t fight.”

Both felt embarrassed with the situation: Mayuri’s worried face denounced that things had taken a wrong turn and they had created an unnecessary scene.

Nonetheless, Okabe Rintarou was the first one to try to justify his attitude.

“I don’t wish to fight, but as the lab member 001, it’s my duty to defend the reputation of this institution. My assistant claims that this isn’t a “real” lab and I want her to understand that if she doesn’t like what we do, she shouldn’t show her face around here.”

“Is that true, Kurisu-chan? You don’t like being in the lab with us?” Mayuri asked.

Makise Kurisu felt alarmed due to her friend’s disappointed look.

“No Mayuri! That’s not what I meant!” She then gave her masculine interlocutor a furious look. “Don’t twist my words Okabe! She can misunderstand it all!”

However, he didn’t add anything else. He felt very convinced.

“I’m simply trying to explain to Okabe Rintarou the differences between reality and his chuunibyou fantasies,” Kurisu responded in her defense, “but it doesn’t matter what I say, he refuses to listen to me.”

The misunderstanding had begun the previous Sunday. That day, both had had an unfortunate encounter, which ended in a couple of apologies and an explanation about what she was doing in Japan.

Okabe Rintarou, with his optimism, answered the last message from Makisue Kurisu with the first thing that came to mind:

_«Hououin Kyouma:_

_It’s good to hear you’ll be on this side of the world, assistant, but if you wanted to work in a Japanese lab that badly, you should’ve talked to me. You could’ve asked me to have a full time residency in the Future Gadget Lab._

_It’d be good for you to consider it before the Organization recruits you first.»_

It wasn’t logical to suppose that Kurisu could work full time in his lab creating “future gadgets” —basically the only purpose of the institution,— instead of neuroscience experiments in the RIKEM. But even so, Okabe’s dream was for that possibility to exist: if it became a reality, he’d know where to find Kurisu all the time and although he’d have to go to the university, they could see each other at the place in his free time to talk about their future projects. Everything would be like he had dreamed: he appreciated the mind of the experiment loving genius girl, although he barely admitted to her.

Makise Kurisu didn’t know what to make of such affirmation. She thought that Okabe’s plan with that proposal was to enslave her to his whims, making her work in his ideas for free. Since the lab hadn’t produced even a single useful invention, it lacked the economic resources to function, except for the monetary contributions from its members. The genius girl loved spending time in the place, but frequent it outside of vacation time, without anything productive to do and when everyone had obligations to take care of, was insane.

The best thing for her was to move ahead with her career in a serious lab and enjoy with them her free time.

_«Assistant:_

_Thanks for the tempting proposal, but I’m afraid I must reject it._

_Unfortunately, I can only do residencies in “real” labs. You know, those directed by true scientists and not by “mad scientists”_.»

Okabe didn’t take the issue well.

“What did she mean by a “real” lab?” Where they just a lie? Although Hououin Kyouma admitted not being an ortodox scientist, affirming that his lab wasn’t “real” was crossing a line that he wouldn’t tolerate. Especially knowing that in the past they had managed to create something as grand as a time machine, even if no one else besides him could remember it.

That’s how, contrary to the initial intention, what should’ve solved the conflict between them was the trigger for the RINE’s whirl happening that week.

Okabe Rintarou responded to Makise Kurisu’s messages contradicting her words. For her part, Makise Kurisu defended her thoughts and searched for arguments to show Okabe his lack of competence. All that could be solved by ignoring the issue or agreeing with the other, but neither one wanted to be the first one to give up.

Science, scientific method, rational thought, experimentation, invention, talent, the meaning of what reality was or wasn’t… it didn’t matter where the issue diverted. Both waited impatiently for the other to reply to write his/her next argument. Both interrupted what they were doing constantly —Okabe his university classes and Kurisu her work— to use the phone.

They continued on and on sending each other texts up until they took the issue face to face that same Saturday.

“Don’t you know the phrase ‘publish or perish?” Kurisu said, wanting to explain her point.

“Publish or Parish?” said Mayuri thinking about the meaning of that words.

“That sounds terrible!” Ruka added putting her hands over her mouth when imagining the issue.

“Well, it doesn’t mean a death in the literal sense of the word.” Kurisu clarified. “But it means that, if you don’t manage a good quality production that is also cited by other colleagues, it’ll be less probable that you can advance in your professional career.”

Scientific research was in principle a social activity. Its correct functioning depended, among other factors, in the promotion of the works inside the academic community. The fever for the publication in prestigious magazines caused the members of the best labs to be subjected to a lot of pressure, and all of them must make a great effort to obtain original results before the same results were published by other groups. Everyone wanted to have the first news of the discoveries.

“If you can’t face the pressure perhaps you won’t be able to continue with your projects and you can find yourself forced to look for another job to survive. The risk exists, and for a scientist with vocation, there’s isn’t a worse destiny than giving up the idea of doing experiments.”

Even a prodigy young person wasn’t completely excluded from that dynamic, especially when she made basic mistakes with her work. Kurisu also had to worry about recovering her own competence as a professional to defend her reputation in the community and not risk taking the same path her father did.

“Maybe in the labs where you’ve been working they have that kind of worries Christina, but the situation doesn’t apply to us.” The mad scientist protested.

Okabe Rintarou insisted that the “Future Gadget Lab” was a private institution that didn’t depend on anything other than the passion of its members for the search of the truth. Having academic prestige, publishing in scientific magazines, presenting in university seminaries or things of the type, were out of his present interests.

“Our main objective is the study of the invention process on its own, through the creation of future gadgets that lead humanity to a different level of…”

“Tell me Okabe,” Kurisu interrupted “how many copyrighted patents you have in this lab? At least, can you tell me how many future gadgets you have produced and commercialized with success since you founded it?”

He got quiet suddenly since he couldn’t respond to the question.

“Just like I thought, in both cases the number is zero. I hope you understand that if we continue like this we won’t manage to get sponsors that will want to invest in us. We won’t always be able to create efficient inventions if we only have the junk that others leave on the streets.”

Plus, they had a survival vital problem: with Mayuri’s part time job and Daru’s secret jobs, plus the eventual financial additions of the other members, they could barely gather enough money to cover the rent.

“And what are you proposing, assistant? To sell our ideas? Academic people are killing the spirit of creativity with their useless bureaucracy.” Okabe refuted. “Talent won’t survive in your “real world,” dominated by the Organization and other evil institutions that only want to take advantage of the inventions.”

At least he could name a scientific institution that had dark intentions.

“I agree with you when it comes to that, but we aren’t debating about whether the scientific system works or not. Beyond that, this issue is about the reality in which you live, Okabe Rintarou.”

As of then, Okabe was a college student but if by graduation he wanted to develop a career in science, or even as an inventor, he’d have to earn a spot against many other talented graduates that wanted the same thing.

“I wouldn’t like it if due to your lightness when facing important issues you lose the chance of having a future.” She reproached him.

“A future?” Okabe asked, wanting to understand what she meant.

“You know what I mean, a good future.” Kurisu insisted. “Even someone like you must have goals like obtaining a well-paid job or even getting married and start a family, right?”

Okabe looked confused. They had argued all that week just to reach that conclusion? Something as trivial as getting a job or having a family?

“I thank you for your concern in my future, Christina,” he responded, “but what you say sounds more like an American virgin’s fantasy than the goals of a mad scientist. The issue is set and it’s not necessary that we debate it.”

Okabe secretly worked in a plan. It wasn’t extraordinary, but he didn’t want to share it with her; not yet.

For her part, Kurisu got offended with the last reply. Amongst all the things that he could say, was it necessary to remind her that she was still a virgin? And even if that was the case, why was it wrong to want all those things? Did he only want to continue playing as an inventor with his friends all his life? Didn’t he have any other ambitions?

“If you continue acting that way I won’t be able to take you seriously, stupid Okabe.”

Okabe Rintarou became quiet for a moment, without knowing what to say. The other members also seemed surprised with the sudden comment, while Kurisu’s face blushed more and more when she realized the meaning of her words.

“I meant, no woman could! right?”

She looked for Mayuri’s help, but she didn’t say anything. Neither Kiryu Moeka through Skipe or Urushibara Ruka, who wasn’t precisely a woman, backed up her affirmation. She had no support.

Hashida Itaru was the only one that raised his voice to break the awkwardness of the moment.

“Okarin, I know the way that we can solve this issue.”

Right after, the young man minimized Moeka’s face and entered the file browser.

“What are you looking for Daru?” Okabe asked.

“Didn’t you download a copy of your grades? If Makise-shi is worried about your future, I can show them on the screen so she can clear her doubts.”

“Wait, would you really betray me in that way? Weren’t you my faithful right hand?”

“Of course not. This is my revenge for lying to me saying that Faris-tan would come with a bag full of homemade cookies.”

Not being able to taste the sweet kitty-shaped cookies baked with the love of the beautiful maids broke his fragile otaku heart.

“What do you say Makise-shi? Do you want to take a look? This way you can decide if Okarin is a good catch.”

Kurisu doubted for a moment, but she then accepted the offer.

“I don’t care to know if he’s a good catch or not, but since you’re offering, I’m curious to know about how Okabe is doing in school.”

Mayuri and Ruka also got closer to the screen to take a closer look at the document, while the emergent Skipe window informed them of a new message:

_«Shining Finger:_

_I also want to see. Send me a copy of the archive, please.»_

Daru opened the document for all to see, but the only one that didn’t participate in the meticulous scrutiny was the owner of such document.

The atmosphere stayed quiet for several minutes, until the first observer spoke:

“Okarin has been making a big effort.” His childhood friend said. “Congratulations, Mayushii is very proud of you.”

“Okabe-san, I mean, Kyouma-san is a good student.” Ruka added.

Through the internet, Moeka’s opinion was presented:

_«Shining Finger:_

_It shows you worked really hard._

_Good job Okabe-kun!_ ╰ _(*´_ ︶ _`*)_ ╯ _.»_

“This a little unexpected.” Kurisu finally added.

She had become engrossed in analyzing what her eyes saw. She thought they’d be the grades of an irresponsible student that prefered stalking girls in the street or making up conspiracy theories before studying, but the evidence indicated the contrary. Although it’s true that in the first year she couldn’t see any extraordinary results, that drastically changed in the second. The grades improved in such a way that although they weren’t perfect, the average was close to a desirable one for someone pretending to apply to a Master’s degree in a good university.

The phenomenon couldn’t be a mere coincidence. She thought the right thing was to congratulate Okabe for his good effort, just as everyone else had done it. She was looking for the right words, when her thoughts were interrupted.

“Fuahahahaha!”

Hououin Kyouma laughed with his particular style getting everyone’s attention, and when he finished he added:

“Only the weak spirited allowed themselves to be amazed with such insignificant things.”

All could guessed that Okabe reacted like that due to embarrassment. It wasn’t good for him to have been exposed in such a public manner: afterall, the profile of a dedicated and responsible student wasn’t compatible with the image he always pretended to show.

“Is it really needed for you to act like Hououin Kyouma now?” Kurisu reproached.

“Shut up Christina! What you see is my real form, the one of a mad scientist that pretends to demolish the system bringing chaos and destruction.” He reproached. “Although I’m happy that you have finally acknowledged that your “academic world” isn’t a challenge for a genius like me.”

Makise Kurisu decided she didn’t want to continue arguing. Asking for Okabe’s modesty in that situation was like wanting to hit one’s head against the wall.

“Let’s stop with the foolishness.”

She took a folded paper out of her coat and presented the contents to the present there.

“Look Okabe, I was thinking all week on how to make this lab work. Before coming here, I wrote some proposals; if you agree, I’ll read them and we’ll put them through a vote, or isn’t this a round table?”

She wasn’t wrong.

With Kurisu’s return to Japan, Okabe would’ve preferred to throw a party, but due to lack of funds, plus the academic period they were on, the organization of the event became difficult. In less than a week the only thing he managed to set up was a general reunion, although he couldn’t summoned the totality of the lab members.

The lab member 005, Kiryu Moeka, wasn’t present in Tokyo. She had been hired by a magazine editorial that offered her a job in Hokkaido to redact the news about the local life. By then, she already had a part time job in the CRTs store, but her boss encouraged her to take the position to “open herself up to the world” and that way improving her social skills.

Despite the distance, she had accepted joining the round table through a video call. It didn’t seem that the change of residence had favored her, since she continued typing messages rather than talking.

The lab member 007, “Farys NyanNyan,” —Akiha Rumiko’s alias—had excused herself saying that although it was her day off from May Queen, she was getting ready for the annual _RaiNet_ championship, so she’ll dedicate it _“meditating under torrential waterfalls and hiking high mountains, searching for the five wise prophets who would guide her on her illumination path.”_ She probably meant that she’d be busy at home.

The lab member 008, Amane Suzuha, hadn’t been born yet and therefore, it was impossible she could participate. Her personal pin was put away in one of the shelves in the development room, waiting for Daru to reach his destiny.

The lab member 009 and the most recent, Hiyajo Maho, was living in the United States. She could take advantage of the technological means to join, but she had excused herself with Okabe Rintarou sending him a message:

_«Hiyajosephina:_

_I’m sorry Okabe-kun, I’ll be busy this Saturday, so I won’t be able to do a video call. If you see my kohai, tell her for me not to forget the reason why she is in Japan._

_Good luck, you’ll need it.»_

Hence, the reunion was an incomplete round table. Despite that, the decisions being made would be valid if they were chosen by the majority of the participants.

Even when Kurisu had questioned the formality of the lab, it was obvious that she was worried for its operations. If she had made the effort to write proposals, perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea to hear them. That way Okabe would show her that his lab was a group of people united by real purposes.

“Let’s hear what you brought, assistant.”

She went on to reciting her proposals; they all sounded practical and doable. They began to vote on each one: all members should use a white coat —voted yes by only Okabe and Kurisu—; creating a commercial image using as base the logo Okabe used to design the members pins —approved unanimously—; updating the web page “futuregadget-lab.com” —Daru voted against it to avoid having more work, Kurisu offered improving the translation to English—; defining how to conduct public communications —Moeka could help doing online publications—; creating open events for the community to show their work —Ruka could ask his dad to let them use the temple terrace, Mayuri would make some cute outfits for everyone—...

When they finished with the superficial matters they had to talk about the most important subject: the creation of new future gadgets. Okabe Rintarou and Makise Kurisu were the only ones with remaining energy to chat about the issue, despite wasting some of it in their argument. The other members lost interest quickly and began to scatter one by one: Kiryu Moeka hung up due to having to work on an article; Daru took advantage the web was free to navigate online; Mayuri and Ruka began to look together through a magazine where there were pictures of Mayuri’s friends cosplaying with the outfits designed by her for Comina of last Summer.

Time continued its course and when it was past 4:30, Urushibara Ruka looked at her watch with worry.

“I’m sorry I have to leave this way, but father asked me to help him organize the groceries before night time. It was very fun. Have a good day.”

He did a reverence and left. Less than 15 minute had gone by when Kurisy reached the same conclusion.

“I think it’s time I leave too.”

“Are you going back to Wako?” Okabe asked.

“Not yet, I need to go get some things I ordered before.” Kurisu responded and then addressed her friend. “So Mayuri, are we meeting tomorrow as we agreed?”

“Of course Kurisu-chan! I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon by the bridge in the Akiba’s station.  
“You two are meeting alone?” Okabe spoke again.

“I have an issue I need to talk with Mayuri in private. Do you have a problem with it?”

But Okabe didn’t respond: under his perception, when two women wanted to meet to talk alone, the only thing it could be about was evil matters that would terrify any mortal man that could hear them. He decided not to investigate any further.

Kurisu got her street shoes ready and she then looked inside, there were no chases this time? Okabe wouldn’t offer her any help to carry her things, and while they were at it, taking the northbound train together? It wasn’t that she wanted to spend more time with him, but if he had already followed her before, why not do it now too? That way they could continue talking about their projects for the lab.

She waited for a moment for him to say something, but the only thing that Okabe added when she was leaving was:

“Take care. The Organization could…”

“Don’t even mention it.” Kurisu responded and exited the place.

Moments later, Daru called his friend’s attention.

“Pathetic Okarin, simply pathetic. You should die already.”

The mad scientist, who was now drinking a Dk Pepper, was surprised with such unexpected comment.

“You won’t manage to unlock the main event of Makise-shi’s route that way. You’re heading directly to the bad ending.”

“Mayuri, do you understand this subject’s delirious words?” Okabe asked.

She stopped her recently started sewing work to respond:

“I think Daru means that Okarin always looks frustrated when he’s around Kurisu-chan, like if he wanted them to be closer.”

The response left Okabe speechless for a second, was it obvious that he wanted to be closer to Kurisu?

“It doesn’t surprise me that Makise-shi doubts you if you act like an idiot every time she comes back to Japan. At least you should’ve told her that you raised your grades to apply for a scholarship in the United States.” Daru commented. “I think you should confess to her and then die, do you hear me? Those with girlfriends should die!”

Okabe wanted to respond that he was sending himself to his death: at some point Hashida Itaru and Amane Yuki would begin to go out to later get married and have a daughter, although in the present time they weren’t anything other than acquaintances that exchanged some emails and meet to chat every once in a while. He was surprised that a pervert like Daru could be so modest when it came to his personal business, and still try to get involved with his.

But his right hand wasn’t wrong: his plan was to get a scholarship. Daru must’ve guessed it when he saw the searches that Okabe did about international students in the United States, and about the academic performance requirements they required. He never expressed that the issue was related with Kurisu, but it was evident when the browser history showed that the offers most searched were the ones coming from Victor Chondria University.

His desire to be close to Kurisu was so noticeable, that perhaps it was time to confess his feelings. But when Okabe evaluated the issue he realized that it mustn’t be taken lightly.

In a different worldline, the urgency to know that he wouldn’t see her again, that she’d _die_ after that last goodbye, was what made those words easy to say: he knew that if he didn’t confess in that moment, he’d regret it all his life. There wouldn’t be a second chance, at least that’s what he believed. But now that Kurisu would live, that neither the convergence threat existed anymore nor the previous fatalities, would the “right moment” exist to try again?

At that moment at least, Okabe didn't feel comfortable explaining the content of his feelings.

“It’ll be best to change the subject. This had nothing to do with the lab.”

Daru accepted the proposal. After all, it wasn’t the style of neither man to become emotional.

He remembered an interesting subject to discuss:

“Tell me Okarin, do you know the user _JumpingRabbit011_?”

“JumpingRabbit011?” Okabe repeated, without remembering having heard it before. “What kind of ridiculous alias is that?”

“He showed up a few days ago. He’s looking for an old computer. Take a look…”

The hacker clicked on a thread on @channel titled “ _Searching for an IBN5100_ ” where the first message read:

> **1 Name: JumpingRabbit011 : 10/02/2012 11:10:50**
> 
> I need an IBN5100.
> 
> I ask for info.
> 
> **2 Name: Anonymous: 10/02/2012 11:15:28**
> 
> >>1
> 
> And I need a life.

“An IBN5100? Why does he need one?”

The model searched got Okabe Rintarou’s attention, since it wasn’t unknown at all.

“He hasn’t said, but that’s not the most important part. Keep on reading the messages.”

The mad scientist used the mouse to follow the flow of the discussion:

> **15 Name: Anonymous: 10/02/2012 13:25:45**
> 
> I have an IBN5100 available.
> 
> I can give it to you if you transfer 100 000 yens to my PeyPal account.
> 
> I also take bitcoins.
> 
> **16 Name: Anonymous: 10/02/2012 13:27:33**
> 
> >>15
> 
> Bitcoins are a temporary fashion.
> 
> In a couple of years nobody will remember them, they’re worthless.
> 
> **17 Name: JumpingRabbit011 : 10/02/2012 13:29:19**
> 
> >>15
> 
> I’m not playing.
> 
> I need a real IBN5100.
> 
> **18 Name: Anonymous: 10/02/2012 13:45:33**
> 
> >>17
> 
> Don’t you think I have an IBN5100?
> 
> That’s your problem, I’ll sell it to someone else ┐(︶▽︶)┌.
> 
> **20 Name: Anonymous: 10/02/2012 15:03:45**
> 
> For real though, it’s very hard to find an IBN5100 these days.
> 
> Those things are discontinued, good luck with that.
> 
> **29 Name: Anonymous: 10/02/2012 18:11:57**
> 
> I know how to find an IBN5100.
> 
> My cousin who lives in Shinjuku told me how to find one: you have to undo some _B-mails_ that you sent to revert the butterfly effect.
> 
> But be careful because you can end up killing your favorite waifu in the process.
> 
> **36 Name: Anonymous: 10/02/2012 21:02:22**
> 
> APL is the best programming language ever created by man.
> 
> BASIC’s monopoly must die!
> 
> **42 Name: Anonymous: 10/03/2012 01:38:25**
> 
> I have one of those IBN, I’m typing on it now.
> 
> The keyboard is a little hard but it works well.
> 
> I’ll give it to you if you get me the 7 Dragon cubes.
> 
> **55 Name: Anonymous: 10/03/2012 12:38:25**
> 
> >>17
> 
> Here you have a reliable vid explaining how to find a real IBN5100:
> 
> www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm3823705
> 
> I hope it helped you.
> 
> **56 Name: JumpingRabbit011 : 10/03/2012 12:45:33**
> 
> >>55
> 
> No more jokes.
> 
> I need real information.
> 
> **57 Name: Anonymous: 10/03/2012 12:50:43**
> 
> >>56
> 
> It doesn’t look like “Jumping Rabbit” has any sense of humor.
> 
> **58 Name: Anonymous: 10/03/2012 13:00:58**
> 
> >>56
> 
> (\\_/)
> 
> (>.<)
> 
> (")₍")
> 
> **79 Name: Anonymous: 10/03/2012 13:34:25**
> 
> >>56
> 
> Even though we haven’t told you spoilers about what will happen in the year 2055. The convergence of this attractor field S;G will turn a little strange for my taste, especially with HK and JT escaping from the UM.
> 
> I don’t know what the author thought, but I’m sure it was something he created when he was bored.
> 
> I’ll give him a 7.5/10.
> 
> **91 Name: Anonymous: 10/04/2012 03:28:11**
> 
> >>56
> 
> At least you haven’t lost The Game.
> 
> I just lost.

“I don’t see what’s interesting about this, they’re only making fun of him.”

Almost no one on @channel seemed to take the discussion topic seriously. Most of the messages were full of foolishness or something not related with a real IBN5100, because nobody believed that such an archaic computer could be found in that time.

“Many users came into this thread to bother JumpingRabbit011, that’s what’s so interesting.”

“What do you mean? That’s what trolls do best.”

Daru explained that since a couple of days ago, many users began to ask for help in the IT subforum due to problems they were having. It seemed that there were serious errors with their operating systems, like if they had been “sabotaged” in several different ways. Some stated they weren’t able to access their favorite programs, others that certain information on their hard drives had been erased, others had random bothersome events that popped up on their screens, making it difficult to use. The strange process that controlled them didn’t seem to pretend anything in particular other than complicate things for them. But when the victims searched for a file or executing service that could explain the phenomenon, they couldn’t find any.

The users affirmed that the sabotage happened a little after leaving messages on the thread started by JumpingRabbit011, as if by commenting on it was the trigger of the phenomenon. That didn’t make others stop from continuing to respond in the discussion, but if however not everyone that commented was affected, there seemed to be some kind of preference on those that provoked the rabbit more.

“A user said that after typing a message, his screen only showed the image of Kirisane Marina in the same link he copied on the thread. He had to completely reformat his hard drive to get rid of it, although it’s a shame, because Marina-tan is very moe.”

“You mean to tell me that the “Jumping Rabbit” is taking revenge on them?”

That’d mean he wasn’t a normal internet user, but a true hacker.

“I don’t know, but if what everyone says is true, it seems he’s very skillful. Nobody has been able to find proof of what he does or how he does it.”

The topic was reported several times on @channel, but after insisting, the page admins admitted that it was impossible to eliminate, and plus, they couldn’t block the proxy that JumpingRabbit011 used to connect. The security of the code which with the page is written began to be questioned by everyone.

Many knowledgeable programmers were interested in solving the question. They were planning on forming a “rabbit hunting” group to find the user’s identity, although they hadn’t agreed on what techniques they’d use to catch him.

“I too want to know if he can infect computers, so I decided to send him a message.”

Amongst the last ones added:

> **136 Name: BarrelTitor003: 10/06/2012 16:46:22**
> 
> I’m the master of all computers, and the only and magnificent Super Hacker.
> 
> IBN5100-tan is my property and I challenge you to take it from me, JumpingRabbit011!

“Are you sure about what you’re doing Daru? Okabe asked. “If this guy is a hacker it could be dangerous to provoke him.”

“Hacking an expert like me won’t be easy, Okarin. I know better than anyone the information path of the lab machines.”

The one that had called him out when he revealed his grades, so Okabe couldn’t deny it. He knew that his friend was an expert in the field.

However, when Hashida Itaru tried to change pages on the web browser, the program stopped responding. Even the pointer had disappeared.

“It froze up.”

He began to use different key combinations to access the system processes, but he wasn’t successful.

“It seems the task manager stopped working.”

“Can you fix it?” Okabe asked, who began to get a bad feeling about it.

“I’m going to try to restart it.”

With a button, the computer turned off and right after it began to work again. But when the operating system initiated, instead of executing the usual desktop, the screen turned white. Above it Skipe opened up showing a chat window. The message read as follows:

_«JumpingRabbit011:_

_Uncle Barrel. Do you have the IBN5100?_

_I need it.»_

“That’s him Okarin, that’s JumpingRabbit011!” Daru exclaimed surprised by what he was seeing. “That bastard managed to fool me, I refuse to accept it!”

“It looks like he wants to talk to you.” Okabe added, surprised as well.

Under the JumpingRabbit011’s message, the writing bar blinked, waiting for a response.

“Do you think I should answer? This seems very suspicious.”

Okabe Rintarou didn’t know the right answer.

Talking from experience, there was only one type of people that searched for the IBN5100 with such desire: the rounders. Could that be the reason behind such energy trying to find information about one? Was JumpingRabitt011 a recruited rounder?

“Ask him what he needs a IBN5100 for.” He said, hoping to clear his doubts.

Hashida Itaru wrote:

_«BarrelTitor003:_

_What you want it for?»_

The answer from the other side didn’t delay.

_«JumpingRabbit011:_

_Secret Operation.»_

“Secret Operation? That’s like saying nothing!” Daru said.

“Do you think he can find us?”

Whatever the “secret operation” was, Okabe didn’t want anything to do with it.

“I’m using a VPN with a very trusted code to connect to the Internet. I don’t know how he infected my computer, but he shouldn’t be able to locate where we are easily.”

A woman’s voice resounded in the room saying: _“the future gadget lab”_

When hearing it, Okabe turned towards the couch.

“Did you say that Mayuri?”

“No.” The one that continued sewing on the coach said. “Mayushii didn’t say anything.”

The voice had come from the computer’s speakers.

“Okarin, it looks like Jumping Rabbit has initiated a video call with us and he is sending us his audio.”

Okabe Rintarou froze up while looking at himself and his friends on the mini of the window’s lower part.

“He can see us…”

“Yes.” The voice responded.

Okabe Rintarou swallowed saliva. How should he react?

Should he grab Mayuri and run outside? It wouldn’t make sense. The rounders were capable of controlling the public transportation and they were armed, so it was dangerous to try to escape from them. But if they were following their footsteps and knew their location, why not coming directly into the lab?

Thinking about it, Okabe also believed that the situation was very suspicious. Hacking @channel users because they responded to a message seemed like a childish method if it was a mercenary’s group, also after the fact that they hadn’t been the first ones to be attacked. But even then, he didn’t want to underestimate the facts: He must take action as soon as something came to his mind.

He was thinking of a plan when Mayuri, ignoring the gravity of the situation, stepped into the front addressing the monitor:

“Hello Rabbit-chan! My name is Mayushii, nice to meet you.” She greeted with her hand.

“Hello.”

The strange hacker didn’t seem hostile in his response.

“My sixth sense is detecting the voice of a ‘little sister’.” Daru commented and after he decided to test his theory. “Rabbit-tan, please say ‘Onii-chan, I’m afraid, can I sleep with you?’”

“No.” She replied.

“So you’re lying to me! You wouldn't be a true little sister if you can’t say that!”

Hashida Itaru believed that the hacker was using a voice simulator program to hide his real identity and set a trap for a pervert like him, but he considered himself too smart to fall for it. Okabe Rintarou reacted to his own incredulity of what had just happened and grabbed both of his friends from behind, pushing them towards one corner.

“You two stop playing! This guy could be dangerous, we must stop this!”

“You’re right Okarin, this guy is caressing our IT hips with impunity like he was a chikan.” Daru responded with one of his analogies. “I’ll try to recover control of the system, meanwhile you talk to him to distract him.”

“Me? You want me to talk to him?”

“It’s a video call, right? Get your delirious Hououin Kyouma to say something while I find out how he does it. If there’s someone on the other side of the communication, perhaps I could track his IP and discover where he’s hiding.”

Daru sat at the computer and tried to open a command line. After some tries, he was successful.

“The IBN5100.” The speaking voice demanded. “I don’t see it.”

“IBN? We don’t have an IBN5100.” Okabe replied.

“Not yet?”

“Exactly. Barrel Titor lied to you. It was just an innocent joke to get your attention, but he regrets it now, got it?”

“Yes.” Jumping Rabbit said.

Okabe doubet for a second. Persuading the rabbit to leave them alone could be that easy? He thought he had found an effective strategy.

“We don’t have one and we don’t even know what it’s good for, we’re totally incompetent when it comes to the IBN5100 specifications!”

“Speak for yourself, Okarin.” Daru responded while continue keying commands on the console, searching for a way to regain control of the equipment.

“The point is that you won’t gain anything coming to our lab!” The mad scientist continued announcing. “You won’t find anything if you try to follow us either, you’ll only waste your time, so forget about us and keep on looking for it somewhere else!”

Okabe Rintarou didn’t know if what he was saying will work, but he believed if he convinced him that they didn’t know absolutely anything about the IBN5100 or about its hidden functions, —which were needed to access the Echelon managed by SERN—, Jumping Rabbit would lose interest to investigate them.

Some seconds after, the hacker’s voice declared:

“Okay.”

And before Okabe could say another word, the screen turned dark. Jumping Rabbit had turned the system off remotely, leaving Daru in a momentaneous shocking state.

“Damn Rabbit, you’ll pay for this! Do you hear me?” He yelled when he was able to recover. “I swear I’ll find you and you’ll regret what you did!”

The defeated Super Hacker was mad, but his interlocutor couldn’t hear him anymore.

“Daru, we don’t have time for this. It’ll be better to leave the lab right now.” Okabe insisted.

“Do you think he’ll come for us Okarin? I’ve got the feeling that bastard is only interested in that IBN.” He responded.

Perhaps Hashida Itaru was right and a real danger didn’t exist, but Okabe Rintarou wouldn’t feel safe until everyone got home safe and sound that night. He immediately ordered clearing the installations, at the same time that he offered to take his childhood friend home. He also made sure to know if Kurisu had gone back to Wako, sending her a RINE.

“Why do you think that Rabbit-chan wants that IDN, Okarin?” Mayuri asked while walking together to the station.

Okabe couldn’t guess, but he remembered another character that had also used @channel as his method of contact: John Titor, Amane Suzuha online alias. She was also looking for an IBN5100 when she went back to the past. Could those events be related? Probably not, because there were very few similarities between Suzuha’s actions and Jumping Rabbit’s. There weren't any motives for a time machine to exist in that world line either.

He decided to forget about it: whatever JumpingRabbit011’s reasons were, they’d stay away.

The Future Gadget Lab was empty and the lights were off.

“It looks like this is the place but nobody is in.”

A last minute guest, with two long braids and riding a bike arrived at the front of the building. She had gotten distracted all day riding around, so she had lost track of time. When she noticed that the sun was setting down, she rapidly looked for the address she had written down. But when she arrived it was too late to participate in the reunion that happened a moment before.

She was thinking of an excuse to tell her friend about the failure of her mission, when she saw the CRTs store located on the first floor.

“I think I have an idea.”

After writing the contact number down, she turned her bike around and pedaled away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translator’s Notes:  
> Hello everyone, first time leaving a little note. I’m very excited to be translating this story. When I first read this story in Spanish I fell in love. I contacted the author to see if he wanted to work on a translation. I wanted the fans of Steins;Gate to have the opportunity to read such an amazing story. I’ve read pretty much all the stories out there and this has been my favorite by far and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as me. I had a lot of fun translating this chapter. I felt like I was watching the anime or reading the VN. I laughed a lot with so many of the lines and I can’t wait to read your thoughts.
> 
> Luf5


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